Thursday Night, March 23, 1995 - Oakland Coliseum: The UConn Men were the two seed in the West Regional. They beat Chattanooga and Cincinnati to reach the Regionals where they'd face the three seed from Maryland, featuring the young man that would be the first pick of the NBA Draft that year in 6-10 power forward Joe Smith. The Huskies too were loaded as their starting 5 rolled off the tongue, Donny Marshall, Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, Doron Sheffer and Center Travis Knight.
The theme of the weekend ? Points....Lots of points. As the Huskies raced out to a 49-41 lead at the half. Where Donny Marshall spearheaded the UConn attack with 16 in the opening 20 minutes. While Joe Smith spent a good chunk of time on the bench with three fouls.As the Terps hung around, the Huskies got their separation to gain the win. A mid half 10-0 run that put UConn up by 19. Marshall finished with 27 & 9, while Allen finished an 18p-11r double-double. Sheffer, the two guard from Israel, along with Ollie and Brian Fair off the bench, combined for 15 of UConn's 22 assists. Sheffer finished with 12 and a productive night in the post from Knight and Eric Hayward. They combined to go 10-11 from the field and hauled down 9 boards.
Two days later, the eventual National Champ from UCLA outscored the Huskies 102-92 in another entertaining afternoon of basketball in Oakland. But for the Huskies, their 3rd trip to the Elite 8 came up short again. Marshall was drafted in the 2nd round by Cleveland that year. Ollie after a three year stint in the CBA, playing for the CT Pride, survived 13 years in the NBA, playing for 12 different teams. While Sheffer went back to Israel and had a outstanding pro career. Allen played one more year at UConn, before his outstanding NBA Career where he's the all time three point shooter and now, a hall of famer.
watch the game ?? UConnHuskyGames.com