Kemba Walker scored 130 points over five days in the Big East Championship, easily eclipsing Eric Devendorf‘s previous tournament record of 84. But while his step-backs, fearless slashes to the basket and timely threes will forever live in Championship-week lore, his best play might not have involved any of these.
With 33 seconds left in the title game Saturday night against Louisville, Walker wrapped a pass around Louisville’s Terrence Jennings to teammate Jeremy Lamb, who put in a layup to give UConn a 65-64 lead, which it would never relinquish.
“For me, it’s special because I’m home,” said Walker after the game. “Because I’m home, playing in front of the greatest fans in the world, my family, my friends. Words can’t describe it, honestly.”
But as dominant as Walker was throughout the tournament, with 3.9 seconds remaining, he bit on a Mike Marra pump fake and fouled the sophomore guard on a three-point attempt with the Huskies leading, 69-66.
“I was so mad at myself because Coach (Jim Calhoun), he said, ‘Stay down,’ and I’m telling everybody, ‘Stay down,’ and I’m the one that jumped,'” said Walker after the game.
Marra connected on the first, but missed the second. After unintentionally making the third, Marra then fouled UConn’s Shabazz Napier, who made both free throws, with 3.1 seconds left.
Louisville guard Peyton Siva then rushed the length of the floor and handed the ball off to Preston Knowles right in front of the Louisville bench, but Knowles’ three was short, and UConn held on for its first Big East Championship title since 2002.
“It was a very special night for us and obviously a tremendous week for us,” said Calhoun.
“This group has been resilient. They come off a loss and they’re not happy, but they’re willing to work hard and get better every day.”
During the championship, UConn became the first team to not just win but to even play five games in five days in any conference tournament.
After Walker drew a foul at one point during the game, Louisville coach Rick Pitino began screaming at a nearby official, “He’s not Michael Jordan.”
Told of this after the game, Walker said, “I’m not Michael Jordan. I’m Kemba Walker.”
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