BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – These Cats were for real but no match for the hungry Huskies.

Connecticut overcame an early surge by upstart Vermont and rode the hot shooting of Rashad Anderson to a 70-53 victory Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Connecticut improved to 12-0 in first-round games under coach Jim Calhoun, who won his 30th tournament game to tie Adolph Rupp for 12th on the career list.

Vermont (22-9), champion of the America East Conference, gave its loyal following a thrill, staying with Connecticut early despite the imposing odds of a 15th seed pulling off an upset. It’s only been accomplished four times.

The Huskies, so deep in talent, didn’t have to rely on Ben Gordon to lead the way as he did in the Big East tournament when center Emeka Okafor sat out two games with back problems. Anderson finished with 22 points, Gordon and Taliek Brown each scored 14, and Okafor had 15 points and 14 rebounds, his 21st double-double of the season, tops in the nation.

Taylor Coppenrath, the nation’s fifth-leading scorer at 24.7 points per game, hit his first shot of the game but scored only 12 points on 3-of-17 shooting for the Catamounts despite plenty of open looks. T. J. Sorrentine led the Cats with 19.

A large contingent of Vermont fans, most of them decked out in gold T-shirts with the school name and logo on the front, cheered loudly when the team took the floor for the pregame warmups. And it didn’t take long for the atmosphere in that section of the stands to rumble with excitement once the game got under way.

David Hehn stole Connecticut’s first pass and fed Coppenrath for a 3-pointer just 30 seconds into the game. Germain Njila then hit a jumper at the shot-clock buzzer and two free throws by Coppenrath made it 7-0, putting a big smile on Vermont coach Tom Brennan’s face.

UConn, with Calhoun pacing the sideline and chewing nervously on a wad of gum, finally scored when Anderson hit a 3-pointer from the right wing at 16:50, and Anderson didn’t stop there. He hit five more 3-pointers in a row to propel UConn into the lead.

Taliek Brown stole the ball from Coppenrath and scored on a fast-break layup, then notched another steal on the next Vermont possession and fed Gordon for a fast-break dunk that gave the Huskies a 21-15 edge.

The Catamounts refused to give in. Sorrentine sandwiched two 3-pointers around one by Alex Jensen to tie it at 24 with 8:29 left.

Anderson hit his fifth 3 off an in-bounds pass to break the tie, Okafor converted a hook in the lane for his first basket, and Anderson struck again, this time from the top of the key, to give the Huskies a 32-24 lead.

Connecticut led 37-27 at halftime and slowly pulled away in the second period. A fast-break layup by Brown gave the Huskies a 47-31 lead at 15:09 and the Cats never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

AP-ES-03-18-04 2115EST