No. 9 Oklahoma 73, No. 3 Connecticut 63

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Connecticut's first real test resulted in the Huskies' first loss of the season. <br><br>Third-ranked Connecticut averaged 90 points during its 9-0 start, but failed to get

Wednesday, January 8th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Connecticut's first real test resulted in the Huskies' first loss of the season.

Third-ranked Connecticut averaged 90 points during its 9-0 start, but failed to get much of anything going offensively in a 73-63 loss Tuesday night to No. 9 Oklahoma.

Hollis Price scored a career-high 33 points for Oklahoma, playing its fourth ranked opponent of the season. Connecticut's toughest game had been its only other road game, a six-point victory over Vanderbilt.

``We didn't have some of the things we're going to need to win a Big East championship,'' coach Jim Calhoun said. ``I think some of the youth on the team showed, and some of the guys I would consider our older players deviated from their normal shots.''

The Sooners (9-2) won their 30th straight home game, the second-longest streak in the nation behind Brigham Young's 42. The loss by Connecticut leaves top-ranked Duke and No. 17 Wake Forest as the only unbeaten teams in Division I.

Huskies guard Ben Gordon had a rough night, going 5-of-18 from the field and scoring 12 points, 10 below his average. After shooting 60 percent from 3-point range in the previous six games, he missed 5-of-7 tries against Oklahoma.

``He has a chance to be one of the best players in UConn history in my opinion,'' Calhoun said. ``But tonight, some of the shots he took, I haven't seen them before nor do I want to see them again.''

Gordon got several good looks in close in the first half but missed most of them and Connecticut fell into a 20-7 hole.

Price had 14 first-half points as the Sooners took a 13-point lead at the break. He carried the Sooners after point guard Quannas White left with a sprained knee midway through the first half. The other part of Oklahoma's three-guard backcourt, Ebi Ere, scored 13 points but was just 4-of-10 from the field.

``It was one of those nights where everything that's happening for you is right on time,'' Price said. ``All the guys just did a great job of getting me the ball.''

Tony Robertson had 16 points, and Emeka Okafor 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies.

After his big first half, Price made three more baskets in the first 4:13 of the second, including a 3-pointer that gave the Sooners their biggest lead at 51-31.

His short jumper off a UConn turnover made it 53-35 with 13:33 left. The Sooners then went 11 straight possessions without a basket, and Connecticut took advantage by scoring 11 points to get within 53-46 before Johnnie Gilbert ended the spurt with a tip-in of a miss by Price with 5:52 to play.

Okafor and Rashad Anderson scored consecutive baskets to cut the margin to 55-50 with 5:05 left, but the Huskies got no closer. Oklahoma was 18-of-19 from the foul line over the final 4:43 _ Price was 10-for-10.

``What I really liked about Price is early, he didn't look for his shot. He looked for his teammates, which I reminded some of our kids of,'' Calhoun said. ``When we did a better job on Ere, he took over. He certainly looked like a first-team All-American tonight.''

White midway through the first half after banging his left knee. He didn't return until 3:41 remained in the game, and promptly hit two free throws to give Oklahoma a 59-52 lead.

``For us it was a matter of playing smart, making sure the ball's in the right peoples' hand,'' coach Kelvin Sampson said. ``Once we got in the 1-and-1, we had to make our free throws and don't turn the ball over.

``Our kids' toughness and their will to win was big.''

Connecticut started 3-of-19 from the field. The Huskies were 10-of-32 in the first half and missed several shots in close. Despite their shooting troubles, the Huskies trailed only 32-24 after Gordon sliced to the basket with 2:16 left. Price countered with a jumper with inside a minute to play, then he hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

``They basically just took the game away from us by disrupting us offensively, then that discouraged us defensively,'' Calhoun said. ``In the second half it only got worse. Then we mustered up some pride.''

But not enough to ease Calhoun's sting. The Huskies were supposed to get Wednesday off, but he said they would practice instead.