Big East Tournament: Cinderella UConn Huskies Advance to Championship Game

Kemba Walker does it again.

Once again, it was not just Walker pulling the strings, as the 19th ranked Connecticut Huskies, the ninth seed in the Big East Tournament, knocked off their third ranked opponent in as many days, defeating the 11th ranked Syracuse Orange, the fourth seed in the tournament, 76-71 in an overtime fight in the semifinals Friday night.

The win puts UConn in the Championship Game for the first time since 2004. It also extends the milestone of the Huskies. Since the 2009 tournament, when the conference extended the bracket to all 16 teams, the Huskies are the first team to win three games, now four, after playing in the first round.

Jim Calhoun's Huskies have now won four games in four days, knocking off DePaul, No. 22 Georgetown, No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 11 Syracuse.

Kemba Walker continued to prove that he is the nation's best player, scoring 33 points and grabbing 12 boards while setting the Big East Tournament record for points in a single tournament, breaking the total of 84 from Syracuse's Eric Devendorf in 2009. Of course, Walker needed six fewer overtimes and still has one game to go, which puts him in position to score the most points in any conference tournament in the last 15 years, with the current high being 116. He is now at 111.

What is most impressive is that while Walker had only one shot in the first 11 minutes, the Huskies continued to stay in the game and proved that this is no longer just the Kemba Walker show.

Alex Oriakhi also recorded a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds before fouling out in overtime. Jeremy Lamb, deservedly an Big East All-Rookie Team member, scored 11 as he continues to prove that the Huskies will still be contenders without Kemba, who is scheduled to graduate after his junior year.

Tyler Olander rose to the occasion for the Huskies as well. The freshman, who played his high school ball in the shadows of Gampel Pavilion at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, matched a career high with seven points and recorded six big rebounds. His inclusion off the bench when Oriakhi and senior Charles Okwandu hit foul trouble was vital for the Huskies.

Connecticut is definitely the biggest surprise finalist in the nation's best conference. This whole season has been a surprise for UConn; the team has five freshmen who get minutes, including two starters (sometimes three), two sophomores who did not get regular minutes last year, one junior (Kemba) and two seniors, one of whom is a JuCo transfer (Okwandu).

The Huskies started the year ranked 34th in voting in the polls. They went to Maui and won the EA Sports Maui Invitational with wins over Wichita State, No. 2 Michigan State and No. 9 Kentucky. The win put them at No. 7 in the next polls. Since then, the Huskies have had big wins over No. 7 Villanova, at No. 12 Texas, Tennessee and No. 9 Georgetown.

When the Huskies were picked to finish 10th out of 16 in the Big East, people were thinking that 10th would mean about 6-12. No one expected the Big East to be putting 11 teams into the NCAA Tournament and no one expected UConn to be a threat.

Never underestimate the underdog.

Syracuse certainly battled, as the 11th best team in the country and fourth best in the best conference will. Scoop Jardine hit two threes in the last 20 seconds to force overtime, at which time people immediately began to think about a repeat of the last time the two rivals met in the Big East Tournament in 2009, meaning the six-overtime battle which is considered one of the greatest basketball games in history.

"I didn't want to go into another six overtimes, I know that," Walker said. "I was mad we went to the first overtime. As soon as the first overtime came, I thought about six. I wanted the win and didn't want to go to another one and another one."

The Huskies powered their way through the extra five and made sure there would not be another five, or 25 for that matter and will now play No. 14 Louisville in the Championship Game Saturday night for the Big East's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, not that either of the two is worried about missing out.

While Oriakhi, Olander and Lamb proved to be vital to the Huskies' win, Kemba Walker as always proved to be the topic of discussion, and the argument was once again made that he is better than BYU's Jimmer Fredette and Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough of Notre Dame.

"We let Kemba get too much penetration. We tried to double him every chance we could, but he's very difficult," Syracuse's Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim said. "He's as good as any player there is in college basketball right now. He just made incredible plays."

UConn's Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, who calls Walker one of his favorite players he has ever coached and this one of his favorite teams he has ever coached, again defended his best player and his spot among the nation's elite.

"Tell me any other guard who is getting 12 rebounds, six steals, five assists," Calhoun said. "I've never seen a guard dominate a game inside and out.

"Someone must have questioned if he is the best player. I think he is the most valuable player on any college team in America."

Win or lose Saturday night, the Connecticut Huskies have proven they can play with anybody at any time, that they are not a one man team, and are deserving of a high NCAA seeding. This team will be dangerous during the NCAA Tournament.