By Ken Denlinger
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 28, 1999; Page D1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 27 – The play that helped send its fans into uncharted levels of ecstasy and Connecticut into the NCAA championship game tonight came with slightly more than two minutes left, the shot clock winding down and all-American Richard Hamilton driving from the left wing.

Up went Hamilton. Down went the shot and the Huskies had a six-point lead they nursed to a 64-58 victory over Ohio State before 41,340 at Tropicana Field. Having never advanced to the Final Four, Connecticut will play for the title Monday night against Duke.

"I had a smaller guy on me," said the 6-foot-6 Hamilton, referring to point guard Scoonie Penn, the nearest Buckeye after a series of passes and screens. "I wanted to get as close as possible – and I made the shot."

Another dribble and the shot clock would have expired, nullifying the effort. But that was the way the entire game transpired, with Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin on offense and Ricky Moore on defense providing just enough plays to keep Ohio State from getting too close in the second half.

"We truly believe we have a better game in us," said Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun. "We hope we have that Monday night."

Small forward Hamilton (24 points) and point guard El-Amin (18 points, six assists) accounted for more than 60 percent of the Huskies' points. The other guard, Moore, was just as good on defense, holding Penn to a 3-for-13 shooting performance.

"The [obvious] MVP might have been either [Hamilton] or Khalid," Calhoun said. "But Ricky led us in rebounding [with seven] and cut the head off the dragon. We felt as Scoonie went, so went Ohio State."

The game's first turnover came long before tipoff, when Ohio State misplaced Penn's jersey during a warmup session. Instead of the familiar No. 12 with his name on the back, Penn wore the no-name No. 35 usually used only when someone gets blood on his jersey.

"That didn't matter," Penn said. "Give Ricky the credit. He didn't let me breathe the whole time."

Connecticut fans were encouraged early when El-Amin hit his first shot, a fadeaway from about 12 feet on the left wing that gave the Huskies a 5-2 lead. More important, it broke an 0-for-12 slump he endured throughout the West Region championship game.

El-Amin didn't stop, or at least not for long. He also had three steals and a behind-the-back pass that power forward Kevin Freeman converted into a dunk and free throw.

"Khalid's a spotlight player," Calhoun said. "He might not always play well, but he lives for those games."

Hamilton and El-Amin led a run that gave the Huskies a 32-23 lead, with Hamilton hitting from outside off a pick, from short range on a pull-up and from can't-miss range on a follow-up of a miss by El-Amin.

Ohio State went more than five minutes without a field goal during one stretch midway through the first half, but started a comeback when the Huskies began fouling. Center Jake Voskuhl picked up his second foul with 6 minutes 14 seconds left and sat on the bench the remainder of the first half.

The Buckeyes chiseled Connecticut's nine-point lead, with a free throw each by Brian Brown and Jason Singleton and a layup by Michael Redd off a feed from Penn. With their lead whittled to five, the Huskies committed two straight turnovers and Brown and Singleton turned each into baskets.

With 2:04 left before the half, Redd grabbed his miss from Freeman and scored the putback that gave the Buckeyes only their third lead of the game, 33-32. Hamilton and El-Amin each hit drives that gave the Huskies the lead once more and Singleton's dunk, on a pass from Penn, narrowed it to 36-35 at the half.

"We kind of fell asleep a bit," Calhoun said. "No way we can allow them to come back that easily."

After some stern words from Calhoun, the Huskies jumped to a 10-point lead midway through the second half. El-Amin scored on a back-door layup off a feed from Voskuhl and Voskuhl hit a fast-break dunk off a feed by El-Amin during that surge. Hamilton also had five points.

Ohio State made just 8 of 33 shots in the second half. Some of them were relatively easy. Center Ken Johnson missed one shot from about six feet during that U-Conn. burst and a tip from about six inches.

The best play for the Huskies came after Moore's tight defense caused Penn to throw up a wild shot from the left side of the lane. Moore soon had the ball and threw the outlet pass that ended with backup swingman Rashamel Jones finishing a fast break.

Voskuhl had four fouls and Hamilton and Freeman three fouls each with slightly less than eight minutes remaining. The Huskies had a 55-46 lead at the time – and Ohio State cut it to four before Hamilton's clock-beating jumper. Just before that shot, Voskuhl seemed to travel while trying to control the ball. But the officials did not call anything and El-Amin saved the Huskies by signaling for a timeout.

"It definitely was a heads-up play," El-Amin said.