Over the past 17 days, the Connecticut Huskies played five games in the Big East tournament and three games in the NCAA tournament. Many people questioned weather UConn could continue to play at such a high level because of the fatigue of playing so many games in such a short time span. Kemba Walker answered that question by saying, "The one thing I don't want to beat us is fatigue. Do I get tired? Yeah, after the game. Not during it. I tell myself, I'm not tired … If it's 40 minutes, I might as well play 40 minutes." Walker has backed up what he said by playing 304 of the teams 324 minutes in his last eight games including missing only one minute in the teams last two games. The Huskies needed all 40 of Walker's minutes to beat the San Diego State Aztecs 74 to 67 and advance to the regional finals.
Walker had another great game by scoring 36 points. He made shots from all different angles and areas on the court going 12 for 25 from the floor. San Deigo St. coach Steve Fisher said after the game, "We were going to vary who guarded him, go with Chase [Tapley] to start with and either fatigue or success by Walker, we had it planned all along that Billy was going to guard him for a good portion of the game. And it didn't matter who was guarding him, he was pretty effective today." Walker was helped by freshman Jeremy Lamb who combined with Walker to score 60 of the teams 74 points. Lamb only missed two shots the entire game and added 24 points. UConn needed all they could from Walker and Lamb because all the other Huskies went 6 for 27 from the field and the bench scored only 2 points.
The game changing play may have been with more than 9 minutes remaining. After a D.J. Gay layup gave the Aztecs a two point lead, James Franklin stole a sloppy inbound pass from Alex Oriakhi and dished to Billy Whte for a layup. The frustrated Jim Calhoun called a timeout and as the teams were going back to their benches James Franklin picked up a technical foul for bumping Kemba Walker. Walker defended the call by saying, "The contact was definitely enough to go down. That's why I was able to get the free throws. I was on my way to the huddle, and he ran into me." After the technical foul, UConn went on a 16 to 4 run the next 5 minutes and change. During the run, Kemba Walker scored 14 of his 22 second half points. Although San Diego St. cut the UConn lead to one with 2:57 remaining in the game, Jeremy Lamb and Kemba Walker scored UConn's final 9 points to secure the victory.
The loss is a tough one for the Aztec, who finished the season 34-3. Steve Fisher said, "When your season comes to a screeching halt, like it will for every team with one exception, it hurts. It should hurt, regardless of when, where and how. For our team this year, for what they've accomplished, it hurts exponentially more. I could not be more proud of how we competed, how hard we played, and unfortunately we came up a bit short." San Diego State's leading scorer and rebounder and second team All-American Kawhi Leonard could only play 29 minutes because of foul trouble and finished with 12 points. Leonard shot more threes in the NCAA tournament than free throws, which isn't a stat that Steve Fisher would like to see. He settled for jump shots instead of attacking the lane and using his great athleticism to score. The Aztecs struggled from three only shooting 31.8 percent including Chase Tapley, who went 1 for 7 from behind the arc.
Kemba Walker said, "I'm just trying to do the best I can do. Whether it's scoring, talking, getting their confidence up or giving an assist, I'm just trying to do whatever is possible to enhance this team." If the Huskies continue to play well on defense and ride Kemba on offense, they have a great chance of knocking off the Arizona Wildcats and heading to the final floor. Jim Calhoun said about his team, "I couldn't have asked for a better gift than this team, and then we get this. I don't remember anything quite like this. This is different. This team genuinely believes in themselves and each other."
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