Kemba Walker's Late Heroics Lift UConn Over Texas in OT

AUSTIN, Texas -- UConn guard Kemba Walker had certainly experienced better scoring days, but still there wasn't any doubt whose hands the ball would be in during the final seconds of overtime against Texas on Saturday afternoon.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun had designed the perfect isolation play and Walker (photo right, in blue) had the desired one-on-one matchup against Dogus Balbay around the top of the key. All that was left was to clear out his own big man, Alex Oriakhi, from the lane.

If the frantic waving of his free hand didn't do it, the glare he sent Oriakhi's way did.

That was the opening the nation's leading scorer needed to drive on Balbay, get a little separation and pull up for the 18-foot fade-away jumper with five seconds remaining to send the No. 8 Huskies home with a big-time 82-81 overtime non-conference road win in front of 16,734 at the Erwin Center.

"It was a play for me to go one on one from the top on Balbay," Walker said of what ultimately became the game-sealing basket. "My teammates spread out and if I didn't have the shot I was going to kick it but I was fortunate to get a little bit of space and I made a shot."

That's what Walkers does. He's done it all season. So there was no doubt who Calhoun wanted to have control the ball in the waning moments to make the best decision for the Huskies (12-2), even on a night where the 12th-ranked Longhorns (12-3) made him work for every shot and most of them didn't fall.

"Coming down the stretch, Kemba Walker is Kemba Walker," Calhoun said. "He's going to make a play."

Those are situations star players thrive in. Those are situations where players from UConn's long lineage of spectacular playmakers -- like Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler and Ben Gordon -- made their reputations.

Calhoun has seen Walker hit many incredible shots both in practice and in games. He was anxious to see Walker in Saturday's game-winning situation on the road and against a quality opponent. Afterward, the veteran coach deemed the one-point win as the Huskies' best in a season in which they have risen from the ranks of the unranked after stunning then-Top 10 foes Michigan State and Kentucky in November.

"I've always believed your best players should shoot the ball at the end," Calhoun explained, "because that is why you call them your best player. "

The stat line didn't always support that assertion Saturday as Walker went 0-for-6 to begin the game and didn't convert his first basket until 2:30 remained in the first half. Walker wasn't spectacular most of the night, converting just 8 of 27 from the field while turning the ball over four times in 43 minutes.

In fact, he seemed to need to summon the strength and will to knock down the game-winning shot on what was clearly an off-night for the combo guard.

"I felt like I owed it to my team," said Walker, who came into the game averaging 26.1 points. "I struggled shooting the ball tonight but my teammates still had faith in me to shoot that last shot, coach had faith in me. I felt like I'm going to get my shot and make it."

That seemed to be his mindset as the game hit its crucial points at the end of regulation and in overtime. It was obvious Walker was the best player on the floor Saturday. The 6-foot-1 Bronx product was responsible for seven of the Huskies' nine points in overtime, including a Harlem Globetrotter-like 3-point one-handed shot off his hip as the shot clock ticked down to a second with 2:12 remaining in the extra period.

"I just threw it up," he said. "God was on my side, it went in."

The same could easily be said for most of Walker's shots that went in. He had to twist and turn just to get a crease with UT guards Cory Joseph and Balbay alternating blanket coverage. And even when Walker made past them, there were the long arms of Gary Johnson and Tristan Thompson changing every shot he took.

Contortionists have had easier days.

"They made me work for everything tonight," Walker said of the Longhorns' layered double-team approach. "I thought their game plan was solid."

The Longhorns' relentless pursuit also had its advantages because it eventually forced Walker to trust his younger teammates, something he didn't do during Tuesday's loss to No. 15 Notre Dame. But Saturday, especially during the second half, Walker stepped back and allowed teammates Roscoe Smith and Shabazz Napier to assert themselves on the offensive end.

Smith finished with 13 points while added Napier added another 15 off the bench and Oriakhi had his best game since sparking UConn to the Maui Invitational title in November with 11 points and 21 rebounds, giving the Huskies four players in double figures.

"At halftime I told myself I had to get those guys involved because of the way Texas was playing me," Walker said. "I was just hoping that they would make big plays and they definitely did. I have to say I definitely have more confidence in those guys."

That will be critical in the development of a team that plays as many as seven freshmen in the unforgiving Big East.

"I don't think he thinks we can't do it, it's just we are young team and he's the only one who has real experience on the team," Oriakhi said. "Now he knows so we are going to be able to share the ball and help in every way and get more wins."