The UConn Huskies men’s basketball team is young, we know that. But after their performance on Tuesday against the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans, they’ve aged significantly in terms of experience.
Kemba Walker once again was the man as he led the way with 30 points to help the Huskies to the 70-67 upset of the Spartans in front of 2,400 at the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui in the semifinals of EA Sports Maui Invitational.
The Huskies (4-0) now advance to the finals for their second straight time in Maui. They await the winner of the Kentucky/Washington game, which followed theirs, on Wednesday night. Michigan State falls to 3-1 and will face the loser of the Kentucky/Washington game in the consolation round.
The Huskies went up five at 66-61 on a Shabazz Napier layup but Michigan State rallied with six straight points to take a 67-66 lead with 2:35 to go. Neither team could buy a basket until Walker nailed a clutch jumper to put the Huskies out front by one with 52 seconds left.
After a missed three-pointer by Kalin Lucas, Alex Oriakhi pulled down the rebound and was fouled. He would make one-of-two at the line to go up two at 69-67. Roscoe Smith then had a stupid foul but luckily for him Draymond Green missed both free throws as Oriakhi would pull down the rebound and was fouled again.
Oriakhi missed both free throws but Lucas turned over the ball with three seconds left on the clock. Napier was fouled and made one-of-two. After a timeout, Green got the ball and his three-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark giving the Huskies the upset win.
Besides his 30 points, Walker had three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Oriakhi had a monster game with a double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds. Smith added eight points and eight rebounds while Napier had seven points.
Green paced the Spartans with 22 points and had 12 rebounds. Durrell Summers chipped in with 13 points while Lucas had 10 points.
For most of the first half, the game went back and forth between the two teams. No one could get out to the big lead as UConn’s biggest one was five minutes while Michigan State’s was three. And that was at the end of the first half before a Napier three at the buzzer tied it up at 34-all. There were nine ties and four lead changes during the half.
It was more of the same in the second as neither team could seize control until Michigan State went up six with 9:17 to go in the game. Fortunately for the Huskies, Walker was there to save them once again.
The five missed free throws down the stretch is concerning though. That can’t happen in the Big East.
The Huskies will be back in action at 10 p.m. tomorrow night against Kentucky or Washington.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies vs Michigan State Spartans 11.23.10 EA Sports Maui Invitational box score
The starters were Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Niels Giffey, Alex Oriakhi and Charles Okwandu.
UConn assistant coach Kevin Ollie is with the team in Maui and has been watching the games from the stands while he waits for clearance after injuring his eye last week.
It was Walker’s third straight 30-point game. The last UConn player to have three 30-point games in a season was Ben Gordon (2003-04).
Walker is the third player in team history to score 30 or more in three straight games along with Bob Boyd (1969-70) and Wes Bialosuknia (1966-67).
UConn shot 40.3% (25-of-62) from the floor while Michigan State shot 40.4% (23-of-57).
The Huskies had seven assists on their 25 made baskets.
UConn was 6-of-24 (25%) from three-point land while the Spartans were 6-of-17 (35.3%)
The Huskies were 14-of-24 (58.3%) while Michigan State was 15-of-20 (75%) at the free throw line.
Both teams pulled down 40 rebounds.
UConn outscored the Spartans 36-28 in the paint and 12-7 on the fast break. They also had 27 second chance points to Michigan State’s 16.
The Huskies had 13 points off of five Spartans turnovers. Michigan State had 10 points off of six UConn turnovers.
Photo credits: AP Photo, AP Photo
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