Kruger: UConn wins with healthy Okafor

Friday, April 2, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

If Connecticut junior center Emeka Okafor is healthy enough to last through two more games, new UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger believes that will be the deciding factor in the Final Four.

In Saturday's national semifinals at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Kruger picks Connecticut to defeat Duke and Oklahoma State to beat Georgia Tech. In Monday night's finale, he's going with the Huskies of UConn.

"I think a healthy Okafor will be important," Kruger said Thursday from San Antonio. "I don't know exactly what his status is, but I think UConn is playing with so much confidence ... them and Oklahoma State."

Connecticut won its lone national title when it beat Duke, 77-74, in the championship game in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1999.

Oklahoma State (31-3) and Georgia Tech (27-9) are scheduled to play in the first national semifinal Saturday at 3:07 p.m., followed by Connecticut (31-6) and Duke (31-5) at 5:47 p.m. Both games are on KLAS Channel 8. Monday's title game will start at 6 p.m. on the same television network.

Coaches Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke have combined to win four NCAA championships, qualified for 15 Final Fours and earn 132 victories in the NCAA tournament.

This is the first Final Four for Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who had been 0-2 in the NCAAs -- one at Siena and one, three years ago, with the Yellow Jackets -- before this season.

"Georgia Tech, being a little new to the scene, I think that tips toward Oklahoma State's favor," Kruger said. "Georgia Tech has had a great season and Paul has done a fine job, they won't roll over for anyone.

"But I think Oklahoma State's confidence, at this point, favors the Cowboys a little bit. Oklahoma State is playing really well and has a ton of confidence."

Okafor, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound defensive menace who attracted much preseason attention as the college game's best player, was bothered by a stress fracture in his back, and subsequent muscle spasms, during the season.

In a regional final against Alabama last weekend, Okafor suffered a football-like shoulder stinger that affected his shooting and rebounding abilities.

A Monday MRI performed on Okafor's neck and shoulder revealed no damage, but the All-America got hit on his head during practice Wednesday. Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said that hit aggravated the area affected by the stinger.

"The numbness lasted only a matter of minutes," Calhoun told the Connecticut Post. He said he expects Okafor to participate "fully" in today's practice.

Kruger said Okafor teammates Ben Gordon, Taliek Brown, Rashad Anderson and Charlie Villanueva provide Calhoun with a solid core roster, which might not require Okafor to play at the top of his game for UConn to win two games this weekend.

According to Kruger, Okafor should dominate if the effects of the stinger, and Wednesday's tweaking, don't sideline him.

"Being able to 'go' is one thing, and being able to let it loose, by being 100 percent, are totally different things, especially for a shot blocker who has to extend and do everything he does," Kruger said. "He can affect the game in a big way."

With a battered or bruised star, Duke is in a similar situation. Senior point guard Chris Duhon has a sore rib cage, sustained during the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Krzyzewski said Wednesday in a national conference call that he does not expect Duhon to be completely healthy for the weekend.

Like Okafor, though, Kruger said Duhon has plenty of talent around him -- J.J. Redick, Daniel Ewing, Luol Deng, Nick Horvath and Sean Dockery -- to push the Blue Devils without them having to rely on him as their sole rudder.

"Of course, Duke is special," Kruger said. "The Blue Devils will come in here with a special air and confidence, because they've been there before. That's pretty valuable at this point, too."

Kruger gives slight edges to Oklahoma State and Connecticut in the semifinals, then he's going with the Huskies, banking on a healthy Okafor, on Monday.

"Second shots and easy buckets will also be important," Kruger said. "A lot of times, a margin is created by those two things. Someone gets steals, then layins, and tip-ins. Then a two-point game becomes six or seven.

"Whoever gets a little run early, creates a margin, then the other team makes a run to get them back to even, instead of ahead."

The team that will get ahead and stay ahead, Kruger predicted, will be Connecticut.