Quick Recap of Connecticut at Villanova

Shabazz's 3 gave UConn the victory

Shabazz Napier backs up his talk  

By Shane McCarthy on February 20, 2012

After calling out his team for lacking heart and giving up after UConn’s loss to Marquette over the weekend, it was only right for Shabazz Napier to back-up that talk the next time the Huskies took the floor.  And back-up that talk is exactly what Napier did by hitting the game winning shot, an on-the-run deep three pointer, with one second left in overtime.

Before the game started at Villanova on Monday night, Alex Oriakhi used holy water to bless his teammates to hopefully bring better fortune to their on-court performance.  It didn’t look like it had any effect as Villanova ran out to an 18 point lead halfway through the first half.  But then UConn started to play much better defensively, led by the on-ball pressure from Ryan Boatright, which translated into more confidence on offense.    The Huskies were able to storm all the way back to make it a tie game at halftime.

UConn was never able to go on a run in the second half to gain separation from Villanova, but Jeremy Lamb single handedly hit shot after shot to keep the momentum rolling.  His ability to move without the ball, use screens and make his own shots led to a career high 32 points and the only Huskie in double figures.  

There is no doubt that UConn has many talented players, but they have showed consistently over the course of the conference season that talent alone is not enough to win games.  When this group plays hard together as a team and displays the emotion and determination that they showed tonight, they will be tough for anyone to beat. 

Over the past few weeks it looked as if UConn was playing their way out of the NCAA Tournament, instead of in it.  Maybe this win, and the huge shot from Napier, was just the spark they needed to gain momentum and start rolling in the right direction.  Syracuse better be ready on Saturday.

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