The 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the

2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2004, and ended with the champions ...

and it determined the national champion for the 2003-04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on April 5, 2004, at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

and featured the Phoenix Regional Champion, #2-seeded

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

versus the St. Louis Regional Champion, #3-seeded

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. UConn and Georgia Tech met in the semifinals of the 2003 NIT Season Tip-Off and Georgia Tech upset #1-ranked UConn with a 77–61 win on their way to winning the 2003 NIT Season Tip-Off. However, the Huskies would prevail handily in their rematch in the title game to win their second national championship.

Participants

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech entered the tournament as the #3 seed in the St. Louis regional. In the 1st round, Georgia Tech survived a scare against

Northern Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

when Ben Jacobson missed a game-tying 3-pointer as Georgia Tech was able to pull away with a 65–60 win. In the 2nd round,

Jarrett Jack Jarrett Matthew Jack (born October 28, 1983) is an American professional basketball coach and former player and an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended four high schools in North Caroli ...

made a breakaway dunk with less than six seconds left to hold off

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

57–54. In the Sweet 16, Marvin Lewis scored 23 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 72–67 victory over

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

to advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight,

scored 29 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 79–71 overtime win over

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

to advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four,

Will Bynum William Bynum (born January 4, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona and Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech before going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft. ...

made a last second shot to defeat

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

67–65 and earn the Yellow Jackets their first-ever trip to the national championship game.

Connecticut Huskies

Connecticut entered the tournament as the #2 seed in the Phoenix Regional. In the 1st round,

Emeka Okafor Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi Okafor (born September 28, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Okafor attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas and the University of Connecticut, where in 2004 he won a national championship. ...

had a double double with 15 points and 14 rebounds and he was able to limit the nation's third-leading scorer

Taylor Coppenrath Taylor Burton Coppenrath (born November 8, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. Early life Coppenrath went to high school at St. Johnsbury Academy where he did not play for the varsity basketball team until his junior yea ...

to 12 points as Connecticut beat

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

70–53. In the 2nd round, Connecticut was able to beat DePaul 72–55 despite their coach

Jim Calhoun James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is an American former college basketball coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships ( ...

having an upset stomach. In the Sweet 16, Ben Gordon scored 20 points to lead Connecticut to a 73–53 victory over Vanderbilt. In the Elite Eight,

only scored two points due to a tweaked shoulder but Ben Gordon's 36 points and

Rashad Anderson Rashad Shaheed Anderson (born November 9, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of Connecticut. Early life Rashad's first interest was baseball. His cousin introduced him ...

's 28 points led Connecticut to an 87–71 victory over

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

for a trip to the Final Four. In the Final Four,

scored all 18 of his points in the 2nd half as he led Connecticut to a 12–0 run, down 75–67 with less than three minutes remaining, to beat

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

79–78 and advance to the national championship game for the first time since

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Starting lineups

Game summary

and Ben Gordon got hot in the first half. Ben Gordon hit three three-pointers in the 1st ten minutes while Emeka Okafor dominated Georgia Tech center

Luke Schenscher Luke Dean Schenscher (born 31 December 1982) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played four years of college basketball for Georgia Tech before having stints in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in 2006 and the Portland Trai ...

in the lane. Okafor and Gordon nearly outscored Georgia Tech in the first half, scoring 24 points combined while Georgia Tech scored 26 points as UConn was ahead 41–26 at halftime. The Yellow Jackets could not take advantage of Gordon being on the bench after his second foul. The Huskies was able to extend their lead even with Gordon on the bench. UConn was able to build a 25-point lead at one point. When the Huskies backed off and slowed the game down, the Yellow Jackets were able to make a furious rally to cut UConn's lead down to seven. However, UConn was able to hold off the Yellow Jackets with 24 points and 15 rebounds from Okafor and 21 points from Gordon, as they won 82–73.

Aftermath

Thousands of people in Connecticut celebrated after UConn's victory in the men's national championship game. 35 people were arrested by the police for starting fires and overturning cars in celebration of UConn's second men's and fifth women's national championships. The university police reported that dozens of fires were set outside, and two cars were overturned at the Celeron Square apartment complex about a mile month of campus following UConn's victory over Georgia Tech. UConn became the first school ever in Division I to win NCAA titles in men's and women's basketball in the same season. The Huskies would repeat this feat in 2014.

References

{{2004 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball navbox NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship games UConn Huskies men's basketball Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball College basketball tournaments in Texas Basketball competitions in San Antonio NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game 21st century in San Antonio