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PHOENIX - The NCAA Tournament is bringing out the best in Connecticut.
And the Huskies at their best are breathtaking.
Ben Gordon scored 36 - one shy of his career high - and Rashad Anderson added a career-best 28 in UConn's 87-71 romp over Alabama in Saturday's region final.
A flurry of blocked shots, a dazzling display of long shots and the upstart Crimson Tide had no shot against an assemblage of Huskies talent coming together when it matters most.
Anderson made 6 of 9 3-pointers and Gordon was 4-for-7. Gordon, the region MVP, was also 10-for-11 at the free-throw line.
"Both of us have never shot that well in any one game this year," Gordon said. "I think the man upstairs just gave us the talent to do that today."
UConn, the preseason No.1, plays the winner of today's Duke-Xavier game in the Final Four on April 3 in San Antonio.
"We've had some times where the mantle of expectations weighed heavily upon us," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "As the season started to close down and we saw our window of opportunity become more limited, we kicked the window out and became a terrific, terrific basketball team."
The second-seeded Huskies (31-6) used a 17-4 run during the final five minutes of the first half to go up 53-29.
UConn's All-America center Emeka Okafor played 19 minutes and scored two but had nine rebounds and blocked five shots, all in the first half. A hard foul by Alabama's Jermareo Davidson gave Okafor an elbow stinger with 9:19 left in the first half.
Okafor left briefly, returned to finish the half and started the second half. But he sat for good with 16:32 to play and the Huskies leading 59-36.
"Just a little tingle. Nothing too serious," Okafor said when asked how his arm was feeling after the game.
The eighth-seeded Tide (20-13) stunned top-seeded Stanford and beat defending national champion Syracuse to reach a region final for the first time. But UConn's combination of size, quickness and accuracy was too much, especially during that five-minute onslaught.
"It's going to take a great game to beat them," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "They've just got so many weapons."
Chuck Davis scored a career-best 24 for the Tide, and Kennedy Winston added 21. But Earnest Shelton managed just 10 on 3-for-11 shooting, and Antoine Pettway was 0-for-2 with one point.
UConn's Josh Boone missed four consecutive free throws as Alabama cut the lead to 76-62 on Davis' two free throws with 4:39 to play. Gordon followed with a 10-footer, and the Tide never got closer than 14 again.