It didn't matter that it was UConn's 5th game in 5 days. It didn't matter that UConn had lost to Louisville 2 times during the regular season. In the garden where the lights shine the brightest is where the Huskies played their best. Last night after UConn's win over rival Syracuse when questioned about winning a 5th game Kemba responded about how they came there to shock the world, and shock the world they did by winning UConn's 7th Big East title. No team has won 5 conference tournament games in a row before.
The road to the Big East Championship is no easy one. In the best conference in all of college basketball, if you want the conference title you're going to have to beat some of the best teams in the country. Nobody has it easy. UConn's run to the conference title proved no different.
UConn's 5 games:
1. W 97-71 over Depaul
2. W 79-62 over #22 Georgetown
3. W 76-74 over #3 Pitt
4. W 76-71 OT over #11 Syracuse
5. W 69-66 over #14 Louisville
It wasn't Kemba Walker's best night, but he still led both teams in scoring with 19 points and is certainly the difference maker in this young UConn team. Walker did however sit out the last 7 minutes in the first half after he picked up his 2nd foul, but came back in for the last shot of the half. Jeremy Lamb has had a great Big East Tournament. He had 13, including the layup to take the lead 65-64 with 33 seconds left. Lamb also had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Freshman, Roscoe Smith had a great game with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Sophomore, Alex Oriakhi had another strong performance with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Shabazz Napier made 2 of his 5 points by sinking 2 clutch free throws to seal the win after missing 1 last night which could have kept the Syracuse game out of overtime.
Now we'll have to see how UConn's seed in the tournament is affected. ESPN's, Joe Lunardi said that it could move them up to a no. 2 seed. We'll see come selection Sunday. UConn's latest run sends a nice message to those that counted them out in the beginning of the season, projecting them to finish towards the bottom of the Big East and miss the NCAA Tournament for the 2nd straight year. Now the Huskies are out on top and finish the season as strong if not stronger than when they started in Maui. How can you not like the Huskies this year? Even Jim Calhoun was smiling and gave senior, Donnell Beverly a hug at the end of the game.
Can we have a new vote for Big East Player of the Year?
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