UConn hangs on to outlive Saint Joseph's in overtime
Turns out, Jim Calhoun left Connecticut in great hands.
With Calhoun watching from the stands, the Huskies proceeded their winning NCAA tournament custom thanks to a holdover player in senior guard Shabazz Napier and a new train, Kevin Ollie.
Napier shook off several misses-- including a 3-point effort at the second-half buzzer-- to score nine of his 24 points in overtime in UConn's 89-81 gain Saint Joseph's in the second round of the event Thursday evening. It can be found in Ollie's competition launching behind the bench, two years after health problems obliged Calhoun to walk out, and a year after the Huskies were prevented from postseason play because of scholastic penalties.
"It was a fantastic gain," Ollie stated. "Those gamers right there, that's just what remained this university alive. They can have transferred. They could have done everything. ... They simply remained and they were durable, and they played hard.".
Napier, a freshman on Calhoun's 2011 championship game team, was among those who chose to stay and assist usher in a new era.
"That's why I pertained to the University of Connecticut, to play in these tournaments, to provide myself and my group an opportunity to hoist that prize at the end of the day," Napier shared. "We're here for one typical target.".
DeAndre Daniels scored 18 while freshman center Amida Brimah compelled overtime by completing a three-point play in the last minute.
UConn (27-8), the East Area's 7th seed, developments to play No. 2 seed Villanova on Saturday in a meeting of two previous Big East rivals. Villanova advanced after a 73-53 sway Milwaukee.
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Langston Galloway scored 25 points for Saint Joseph's (24-10). The Hawks fagged out as a result of an absence of depth and afterwards lost their top onward, Halil Kanacevic, that fouled out early in overtime.
"I definitely really did not intend to head out like that," Kanacevic claimed. "I really feel bad, yet I attempted to stay in the game with the people. There's absolutely nothing you can do at that point.".
The foul occurred with 3:47 left in overtime, when Kanacevic tried to quit Daniels from driving the lane. Daniels still took care of to strike the chance from 6 feet and afterwards drained the free throw to place UConn in advance 73-70.
Napier then racked up 7 straight factors-- 5 of them coming from the line-- to put the Huskies up 82-74 with 55 seconds remaining.
Kanacevic finished with 12 factors and 7 rebounds. Freshman DeAndre Bembry scored 16 factors for a Hawks group that gained the Atlantic 10 competition title last weekend.
After attacking 13 of their initial 20 baskets, the Hawks' crime cooled. Saint Joe's went 10-of-22 in the second half and finished the video game going 27-of-54.
The video game turned in the last min of rule, after Hawks secure Chris Wilson attacked 2 free throws to place Saint Joe's up 70-67 with 49.2 seconds left.
Napier missed on a drive at the other end, but Brimah got the rebound to the left of the container and was fouled while putting it back. He tied the game by attacking the free throw.
The Hawks never ever got a shot off on what became their last possession of rule.
Galloway two times lost the ball on the dribble, but got it back both times, prior to introducing a desperation shot that attacked off the side of the backboard as the shot clock expired.
"We were right there," Galloway said. "I would like to out with the round in my hands. It's a challenging play. I struck the side of the backboard. I'm dismayed with myself for not acquiring a much better top quality go.".
With 2.7 secs left, the Huskies made 2 clever passes to obtain the ball to Napier on the fly, which brought up just prior to the 3-point line and had his go attacked off the rim.
"Just given that I missed out on two tries, three chances doesn't imply I'm not visiting take the next one with a great deal of confidence," stated Napier, which completed 7-of-22 from the field. "Today was a huge dogfight, however we willed ourselves and just continuouslied press each other to obtain the succeed.".
The Huskies were coming off a 71-61 loss to Louisville in the American Sports Conference title game Sunday. They now have gained 10 of their previous three, with 2 of those losses coming versus Louisville.
Connecticut sports director Warde Manuel was satisfied with the win and just how his program been determined.
"It's a lot for us, provided just what we underwent in 2012, and for Kevin and the group to fight the means it did," Manuel shared. "I'm quite pleased with the initiative.".
