Spring Break
Showdown in the steel city
Thabeet, Blair meet again with Big East title on the line
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: Sports
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This time they're even higher.
With a win Saturday at Pittsburgh (noon, CBS), UConn clinches the Big East regular season title.
"I'm excited and [the team] should be excited," Calhoun said. "It's an opportunity to win a championship in one game, two hours, after all the practices, the long trips, the tough road games."
When the Panthers (27-3, 14-3 Big East) visited the XL Center on Feb. 16, they were ranked No. 4, as they are now. UConn (27-2, 15-2) was then ranked No. 1, the same ranking it currently holds.
In that game, Pittsburgh big man DeJuan Blair had his way with UConn's Hasheem Thabeet, as his 23 points and 22 rebounds powered the Panthers to a 76-68 victory and the No. 1 ranking in the following week's poll. Thabeet mustered just five points and four rebounds, and UConn fell to No. 4 in the polls. The 7-foot-3 center isn't overly concerned about the result of that Feb. 16 match-up, however.
"We're not really disappointed in ourselves because we lost last time [to Pittsburgh]," Thabeet said.
"We're working hard and we are ready to go over there and take on a new challenge."
From an individual standpoint, Thabeet - and Calhoun - chalked up Blair's dominance to the fact that Thabeet played just over half the game because of foul trouble.
"First of all," Callhoun said, "we need Hasheem to play more than 23 minutes."
"I was in foul trouble that game," Thabeet said. "This time around I need to go over there and play aggressive."
In addition to determining the winner of the game, the battle in the paint will go a long way in determining who wins Big East Player of the Year. At this point, Thabeet (13.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.5 blocks) and Blair (15.9 points, 12.6 rebounds) seem to have distanced themselves from the pack. Naturally, that award isn't the first thing on Thabeet's mind.
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