Kemba Walker Scores 27, But UConn Falls to Marquette in Overtime
DAVID BORGES
Marquette's Jae Crowder celebrates after his team's 74-67 overtime victory against Connecticut in an NCAA college basketball game in Hartford, Conn., on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARTFORD -- A little too much Kemba Walker and way too many turnovers added up to another overtime loss at home for the UConn men's basketball team Thursday night.
The Huskies turned the ball over 17 times and got a bit too reliant on Walker down the stretch in a 74-67 loss to Marquette before 14,622 at the XL Center.
Despite a game-high 27 points and his usual array of dynamic plays, Walker made several mistakes and missed some big shots over the final couple of minutes of regulation and in overtime.
"I thought Kemba was magnificent," insisted associate head coach George Blaney, who took over the reins for the night with Jim Calhoun attending his sister-in-law's funeral. "We asked him to do too much, demanding he had the ball, be the point guard, dribble through people. We just weren't getting enough out of our offense."
Indeed, Alex Oriakhi was the only other UConn player in double figures with a somewhat quiet double-double (12 points, 15 rebounds). Walker dribbled into several traps down the stretch but didn't get much help from his teammates in those situations, leading to a couple of his four turnovers.
"I (made) two big turnovers at the end of the game," Walker said. "They doubled me, and I was careless with the ball ... I think it was me trying to force the issue a little too much."
Of course, Walker was hardly the only culprit. Along with the 17 turnovers there were some truly head-scratching plays and ill-advised shots down the stretch from several different parties.
With 3 minutes, 22 seconds left in overtime, freshman Roscoe Smith grabbed the long rebound of a Walker missed 3-pointer. Rather than kick the ball out to work for a good shot, he inexplicably hoisted up a jump shot that missed.
Marquette came right down and got a quick basket from Jae Crowder to kick off a 12-4, game-ending run.
The 14th-ranked Huskies fell to 20-7, 8-7 in the Big East. They've now dropped two in a row and five of their last eight, including another home loss in overtime to Louisville a few weeks ago in Storrs.
UConn travels to Cincinnati on Sunday as it tries to turn things around in a hurry.
"I'm up for the challenge," Walker said.
UConn jumped out to an early 11-3 lead, then shot just 4 for 21 over the final 13 minutes of the opening half and found itself down 34-23 at the break. But the Huskies bolted out on a 26-7 run to start the second and boasted a 49-41 lead with 10:30 to play.
However, after Lamb's transition layup had given UConn that eight-point lead, Marquette coach Buzz Williams called a timeout to settle his team down. The Golden Eagles responded, chipping away at UConn's lead until Junior Cadougan's 3-pointer put them ahead 56-55 with 3:04 left.
A pair of Walker free throws with 2:18 to play gave UConn a 59-57 advantage, but on the Huskies next three possessions, Walker dribbled the ball out of bounds, missed a 3-pointer and threw the ball away in a double-team.
Marquette was no better, but Darius Johnson-Odom's driving bank shot with 5.3 seconds to play tied the game, and Walker's off-balance leaner at the buzzer was off the mark.
Walker needed 27 shots -- 19 after halftime -- to score his 27 points and had just two assists with his four turnovers.
Johnson-Odom led Marquette with 17 points and Jimmy Butler added 16.
UConn had a whopping 28 offensive rebounds but still shot just 36 percent from the floor.
"I don't know if I've ever seen that before, to be honest with you," Blaney said.
RIM RATTLINGS
Little-used 7-foot freshman Enosch Wolf wasn't with the team for the game or for the shootaround earlier in the day due to illness.
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel made his second start of the season, but played scant minutes down the stretch and finished with five points. Freshman Niels Giffey had his most productive game in some time with nine points off the bench.