UCONN PUNCHES FINAL FOUR TICKET IN DESERT
March 28, 2009
By Zach Smart
Kemba Walker glided to the basket at will.
He left defenders sucking back wind, permeated the teeth of the defense and kicked it to the open man. He reeled of head-spinning moves that resulted in buckets.
The result?
UConn coach Jim Calhoun, dogged by a detailed Yahoo! Sports report that he violated NCAA recruiting violations, pumped his fist emphatically, and UConn released a sigh of relief.
The Huskies squandered an early 11-point edge, but showed poise and perseverance down the stretch, gutting out an 82-75 victory over an up-tempo Missouri team in Glendale, Ariz.
Walker, the fearless freshman from New York City powerhouse Rice High School, never wilted under the knife-cutting, cut-throat pressure.
READ REST OF THE STORY...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
After Mizzou came roaring back from an early deficit--one which saw them capitalize on a torrent of UConn turnovers--Walker soared high to the cup to break a 50-50 deadlock. The 6-foot speed demon helped construct a four-point edge with another drive to the basket with 5:37 remaining.
The neophyte nearly left the jaws at the University of Pheonix sprawling to the ground with a resume reel fall-away bank shot that gave the Huskies a 70-65 edge with two minutes, 11 seconds to play.
Then, in the final 1:02, the fearless freshman showed the poise that resonated in his teammates. He hit all four of his free throw attempts, helping seal the deal.
With the win, the Huskies (31-6) punch a ticket to the final four in Motown for the first time since 2004, when a Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor-led team brought a national championship to the Constitution State.
Walker gave an efficient account of himself, scoring a game-high 23 points and handing out five assists. At crucial transitions, Walker put the team on his back and made some eyebrow-lifting plays.
The Huskies denied Missouri's quest for their first final four. The third-seeded team replicating the "40 minutes of hell" basketball branded by the Nolan Richardson-led Arkansas team of the 90s look like they had the Huskies.
Hasheem Thabeet, the Huskies' 7-foot-3 center, was mired in foul trouble. Missouri's vaunted pressure defense took Thabeet out of the picture early. After picking up his first foul, he was relegated to the bench. Six minutes later he returned, only to be whistled for another folly.
The Tigers, led by Leo Lyons and Matt Lawrence's 13 points apiece, used their hellfire, go-go offense to their advantage. They nearly ran the Huskies out of the gym in the second half, but Walker helped stave off the team that dumped 102 points on Memphis Thursday night.
Beyond Walker, A.J. Price, who thrives in the big-stage setting but handed the "show" keys to the formidable freshman, paced UConn with 18 points. Staney "Sticks" Robinson, the walking definition of feast-or-famine during the regular season (there was a search warrant out for the 6-foot-9 freakish athlete's game at one point), added 13 in 34 minutes of tick.
The Huskies kept the recruiting scandal sideshow back in Connecticut. The team that's hellbent on giving their longtime coach his third national championship looked survived to fight another day--this one on college basketball's grandest stage--on Saturday.
Calhoun, who has a history of getting defensive on topics of this subject, nearly admitted his gaffe in the way his team recruited since-expelled freshman Nate Miles.
"Do I know if any (mistake) has been made? No, I'm not making judgment one way or the other," said Calhoun prior to the contest.
"I truly believe that everything I have tried to do, I have done with a good, clean conscience and if we made a mistake, we'll find out about it. If we didn't, we will also find out about that...I have done this for 37 years."
UConn has had to hush haters all season.
They said they can't do this, they can't do that.
They said the loss of guard Jerome Dyson takes too much of the team's swagger and fast break life away. They said Thabeet can't respond to big game pressure, he puts the ball down on his way to the basket and hasn't established any refined back to the basket moves.
They said Jim Calhoun is overpaid and the Huskies blew the game of the century with their free throw shooting woes in a wild, 6OT loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament.
Calhoun and the Huskies chose not to listen.
Now, with most of the adversity in the rear view, the Huskies head to Detroit with a ticket to a Monday night (and nothing else) on their minds.
By Zach Smart
Kemba Walker glided to the basket at will.
He left defenders sucking back wind, permeated the teeth of the defense and kicked it to the open man. He reeled of head-spinning moves that resulted in buckets.
The result?
UConn coach Jim Calhoun, dogged by a detailed Yahoo! Sports report that he violated NCAA recruiting violations, pumped his fist emphatically, and UConn released a sigh of relief.
The Huskies squandered an early 11-point edge, but showed poise and perseverance down the stretch, gutting out an 82-75 victory over an up-tempo Missouri team in Glendale, Ariz.
Walker, the fearless freshman from New York City powerhouse Rice High School, never wilted under the knife-cutting, cut-throat pressure.
READ REST OF THE STORY...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
After Mizzou came roaring back from an early deficit--one which saw them capitalize on a torrent of UConn turnovers--Walker soared high to the cup to break a 50-50 deadlock. The 6-foot speed demon helped construct a four-point edge with another drive to the basket with 5:37 remaining.
The neophyte nearly left the jaws at the University of Pheonix sprawling to the ground with a resume reel fall-away bank shot that gave the Huskies a 70-65 edge with two minutes, 11 seconds to play.
Then, in the final 1:02, the fearless freshman showed the poise that resonated in his teammates. He hit all four of his free throw attempts, helping seal the deal.
With the win, the Huskies (31-6) punch a ticket to the final four in Motown for the first time since 2004, when a Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor-led team brought a national championship to the Constitution State.
Walker gave an efficient account of himself, scoring a game-high 23 points and handing out five assists. At crucial transitions, Walker put the team on his back and made some eyebrow-lifting plays.
The Huskies denied Missouri's quest for their first final four. The third-seeded team replicating the "40 minutes of hell" basketball branded by the Nolan Richardson-led Arkansas team of the 90s look like they had the Huskies.
Hasheem Thabeet, the Huskies' 7-foot-3 center, was mired in foul trouble. Missouri's vaunted pressure defense took Thabeet out of the picture early. After picking up his first foul, he was relegated to the bench. Six minutes later he returned, only to be whistled for another folly.
The Tigers, led by Leo Lyons and Matt Lawrence's 13 points apiece, used their hellfire, go-go offense to their advantage. They nearly ran the Huskies out of the gym in the second half, but Walker helped stave off the team that dumped 102 points on Memphis Thursday night.
Beyond Walker, A.J. Price, who thrives in the big-stage setting but handed the "show" keys to the formidable freshman, paced UConn with 18 points. Staney "Sticks" Robinson, the walking definition of feast-or-famine during the regular season (there was a search warrant out for the 6-foot-9 freakish athlete's game at one point), added 13 in 34 minutes of tick.
The Huskies kept the recruiting scandal sideshow back in Connecticut. The team that's hellbent on giving their longtime coach his third national championship looked survived to fight another day--this one on college basketball's grandest stage--on Saturday.
Calhoun, who has a history of getting defensive on topics of this subject, nearly admitted his gaffe in the way his team recruited since-expelled freshman Nate Miles.
"Do I know if any (mistake) has been made? No, I'm not making judgment one way or the other," said Calhoun prior to the contest.
"I truly believe that everything I have tried to do, I have done with a good, clean conscience and if we made a mistake, we'll find out about it. If we didn't, we will also find out about that...I have done this for 37 years."
UConn has had to hush haters all season.
They said they can't do this, they can't do that.
They said the loss of guard Jerome Dyson takes too much of the team's swagger and fast break life away. They said Thabeet can't respond to big game pressure, he puts the ball down on his way to the basket and hasn't established any refined back to the basket moves.
They said Jim Calhoun is overpaid and the Huskies blew the game of the century with their free throw shooting woes in a wild, 6OT loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament.
Calhoun and the Huskies chose not to listen.
Now, with most of the adversity in the rear view, the Huskies head to Detroit with a ticket to a Monday night (and nothing else) on their minds.
Labels: Connecticut news
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