The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Connecticut
No. 12 Men's Basketball loses heartbreaker to No. 8 Connecticut, 82-81
01.08.2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2011
Box Score 
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- For 40 minutes, Texas made life hard for the nation's leading scorer.
Overtime, however, was Kemba Walker's time.
Walker made a desperate from-the-hip 3-pointer, then nailed the game-winner from about 15 feet with 5 seconds left in overtime Saturday to lift No. 8 Connecticut to a tough 82-81 victory over the No. 12 Longhorns.
"I felt like I owed it to my team," Walker said of his effort in overtime. "I felt like I would get my shot and make it."
Walker, who came in averaging 26.1 points, finished with 22 against Texas on 8-of-27 shooting. He scored seven in overtime. The 3-pointer came with a second left on the shot clock and put the Huskies ahead 80-77.
"I threw it up," Walker said, "and God was on my side."
Texas (12-3) had a final chance to win, but after getting the ball to midcourt and calling timeout, freshman Cory Joseph juggled the inbound pass and misfired a 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Joseph had made the winning shot in the final seconds to beat North Carolina earlier this season.
Alex Oriaki had a career-high 21 rebounds for Connecticut (12-2), which exploited Texas' focus on stopping Walker to score 42 points in the paint. The Huskies also ended the Longhorns' 27-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.
Jordan Hamilton and J'Covan Brown each scored 20 points to lead five Texas players in double figures. Hamilton had given the Longhorns the lead before Walker's game winner.
Guard Dogus Balbay, so effective in the defensive effort on Walker in regulation, said he was hesitant to contest the winning shot because he was called for a foul against Walker on the previous play. He got a hand up but Walker shot over him.
"I tried my best and he hit it," Balbay said.
UConn blew a chance to win the game in regulation. Oriaki blocked a shot by Texas' Gary Johnson and Roscoe Smith grabbed the rebound with about 11 seconds left. Instead of holding the ball for a final shot, Smith launched a wild crosscourt shot that sailed over the backboard and into the Texas pep band.
That gave the Longhorns the ball back with 7.5 seconds to play, but Brown missed to send the game into overtime.
"It was just a mistake," UConn's Shabazz Napier said. "Everyone said, 'Oh God, Roscoe."'
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun called the win the Huskies' best of the season.
"Yeah, we've beaten Michigan State and Kentucky," Calhoun said. "(But) we held our own on the boards and we scrapped our way through it. What a terrific game."
With Texas focused on stopping Walker, the Huskies had plenty of easy looks at shots close the basket. The Huskies shot just 38 percent for the game but grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and scored 24 second-chance points.
"In my mind, I keep playing through the easy ones they got," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "Defensively we did some good things ... but when you give up 23 offensive rebounds, you can't feel good about that."
Texas held Walker scoreless for the first 17 minutes and led by as many as nine points late in the first half. Connecticut rallied in the second behind more strong play inside and Napier's three 3-pointers.
And Walker, as frustrated as he was in the first half, kept working for his shot.
Connecticut held its biggest lead at 68-59 in the second half when Walker finished a slashing layup and Napier made a 3-pointer.
"Kemba Walker is Kemba Walker and he's going to make a play," Calhoun said.
Texas fought back to cut the lead to 70-69 on Tristan Thompson's bank shot with 2:36 to play. Hamilton blew a dunk on a fast break, but the Longhorns grabbed the lead on Brown's short jumper before the teams ended regulation tied at 73.
When it came down to the final seconds of overtime, there was little doubt the ball would be in Walker's hands.
"I've seen that shot so many times," Calhoun said. "You can go through a whole game and Kemba is about winning, and that was just a big-time win."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas had its 27 game non-conference home win streak
- Texas had two players score 20 or more points for the fourth time this season
- Texas fell to 27-11 against AP Top 25 opponents at home in the Rick Barnes era
- Texas fell to 1-1 in overtime games on the season and 40-44 all-time. Longhorns also fell to 10-13 in overtime games at the Erwin Center
- Texas recorded a season-high in attendance with its first sellout of the season - 16,734
J'Covan Brown
- Scored a season high with 20 points, topping the 18 he scored against Texas State
- Scored 20 or more points for the first time this season and the fourth time in his career (48 games)
- Reached double digits in scoring for the seventh time this season and the 22nd time in his career
- Registered a career high with seven made field goals, topping the five he made on three separate occasions
Jordan Hamilton
- Recorded his fourth double-double of the season (20 points, 11 rebounds) and the fifth of his career (49 games)
- Reached double digits in scoring for the 14th time this season and the 32nd time in his career
- Reached double digits in rebounding for the fourth time this season and the fifth time in his career
- Equaled a career high with 11 rebounds, matching the total he grabbed against Oklahoma on March 1, 2010
- Played a career-high 41 minutes, topping the 40 minutes he played against Lamar earlier this season
Matt Hill
- Matched a season high with six rebounds, tying the total he recorded on three separate occasions
Gary Johnson
- Reached double digits in scoring (16 points) for the 11th time this season and the 47th time in his career (103 games)
- Played a career-high 41 minutes, topping the 39 minutes he played against Iowa State on March 10, 2010 at the Big 12 tournament
- Recorded his first game of the season with multiple blocks (three)
Cory Joseph
- Reached double digits in scoring (10 points) for the eighth time this season
- Recorded 4.75-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (19-to-4) over the last five gamesTristan Thompson
- Reached double digits in scoring (13 points) for the 11th time this season
TEXAS QUOTES
Head coach Rick Barnes
Opening statement: Great game, great college game and I thought both teams played really, really hard. It was the kind of game I really thought it would be. I'm disappointed in the difference in the rebounding. You don't want to give up 23 offensive rebounds, but I thought at the start of the game we were too jumpy. I think the atmosphere, the building being like it was today for the first time, I thought our guys really got caught up in the emotion of it. We didn't do a lot early with our offense and we still shot almost 46 percent and you look at the numbers, they had 84 attempts to our 68 and they shot 38 percent. I thought we did a really good job on Kemba Walker. He's a terrific player and we told our team that he's going to get his points because he's going to shoot enough times to get his points. Again, being the player that he is, he made a couple of really nice plays and we have a chance to get so much better which I think that we will. We've got a group of guys that care and we've got some different ways we can play, but again, it was one of those days where I thought we could have gotten control of it a few times and we didn't and they stayed with it and then we got down and fought back, so we just came on the back end of it today.
On the effort against Kemba Walker causing second-chance points: We're going to have to help because he's a very hard player to guard because he's got the green light and they're going to let him have the ball and he's going to keep you off-balance by dribbling the ball, stepping in, stepping back and those other guys know they're going to play off of him. Then when they take him off the ball they do a great job of running him off screens and he does a great job of changing pace and coming around and doing those things but he was 8-27 and he worked hard for them. He was 2-5 from the three and one was a luck shot for him but he got it up there and the fact is we did a good enough job there. We didn't do a good enough job on the boards. When big guys come over to help, the guards have to crack down on the back side. When you really think about the fact that they shot 38 percent, in my mind I keep playing through the easy ones they got. Defensively, we did some good things but we have to finish the possession. I can say we did some good things but when you give up 23 offensive rebounds, you can't feel good about that.
Senior guard Dogus Balbay
On defending Connecticut's winning shot: I was hesitant to contest the shot because on the previous play, [Kemba Walker] pump-faked and I fouled him. I still think I did a good job contesting the shot, but I tried my best and he hit it. I was going to get close, but I could have done a better job. We were going to stop him as a team, that was the goal, but that play I was just by myself trying to stay in front of him. I know that the guys were going to help me out if he went by me.
On Kemba Walker's underhanded three-pointer: It happens. He threw it up there and made it. It was a quick release, and I didn't see the shot clock. He is a good player. You know he is going to do his thing and he just threw it up there and made it. It really hurt us.
Freshman forward Tristan Thompson
On his free throw shooting in overtime: If you're at the free throw line, it's 50-50. You make some and you miss some. Unfortunately in overtime, they didn't fall down for me. I just have to go back to the gym, keep shooting them until I feel comfortable, so when I get to big games like this I knock them down.
On Connecticut's offensive rebounding: I put the blame on myself. I didn't do a great job boxing out or using my athleticism to get the rebound. With rebounds on their offensive end, that is on myself. Next time we are in that situation, I have to make sure I get the rebound and make sure I box out. I put it on myself and I have to make sure I get better.
Sophomore guard/forward Jordan Hamilton
On the loss: Give credit to Connecticut, they made some great plays down the stretch and their role players came and hit some big shots. I think we could have done a better job with defensive rebounding. I know they got a lot of second chances. Other than that, I think it was a great game. Now that we are starting conference play, we are going to watch tape, see where we went wrong on things, and come out and execute our next game at Texas Tech.
On the final shot: I came off the screen and Kemba [Walker] and Roscoe Smith double-teamed me. That's when it got swung to Cory [Joseph] and it was a good contest by the UConn player.
CONNECTICUT QUOTES
Head coach Jim Calhoun
On the game: Well I just told my kids, very simply, that was our biggest win of the year. Yeah, we've beaten Michigan State and Kentucky, two terrific teams, but we came in here and I've known Rick [Barnes] for an awful long time since he was an assistant to Gary Williams and I have great respect for his teams. They're incredibly physical, I thought they really ran their sets exceptionally well and we had some fear with seven freshmen on our team and I know he has a couple of freshman that our pretty good ones, that we would get beaten up. I talked to Tommy Izzo and he said they got beaten up so it's an enlightment in many, many ways and we held our own on the boards and we scrapped our way through it. What a terrific game. We made some mistakes, shot selection and otherwise.
On Texas' defense on Kemba Walker: They did a great job on Kemba and forced him in to some real tough shots. But, coming down the stretch, Kemba Walker is Kemba Walker and he's going to make a play. There was no doubt in my mind when we called timeout who was going to shoot the last shot or at least have the ball in his hands to penetrate. I've seen that shot so many times. You can go through a whole game and Kemba is about winning and that was just a big-time win.
On Alex Oriakhi: Alex Oriakhi, the guy who quite frankly was the most dominant big guy in Hawaii, hasn't shown that kind of performance since Hawaii and maybe it's the weather since it's warm down here and there's a correlation. I like it though. We'll pump a lot of hot air into Oriakhi.
On the win: That's our best win of the year. Far and away, that's our best win. It's a tough, physical game. The crowd was great for Texas and I thought and really made it a great college basketball game in many, many ways. When it came down to who was going to win the game, Kemba Walker is one of the guys I want with this particular team.
On what he thought his team showed today: Two things. We had some will. The second team that we had, we found some other people tonight that we had been looking for a little bit to stand up. We need them to stand up because everybody's going to play Kemba (Walker) the way Texas played him. They're a top-15 team, no question in my mind with potential to be better than that. Both teams have a long way through their conference, but they're a terrific basketball team. No question in my mind, that's the best win we've had this year.
Junior guard Kemba Walker
On the play of Alex Oriahki and the rest of the front line: They were great. We watched a lot of film leading up to this game. Those guys just wanted it tonight, and came out really aggressive.
On the amazing 3-point shot to beat the shot clock in overtime: God was on my side on that shot. I couldn't believe it myself. I just saw that I had one second left, so I threw it up and luckily it went in.
On what Head Coach Jim Calhoun said after the game: He just told me that I'm having a good year and to keep up my intensity each and every game.
On the last offensive possession: Well the play was for me to go one on one at the top of the key. My teammates spread it out. If I didn't have the shot I was going to kick it out to them on the perimeter, but I was fortunate enough to get a little space and made the shot.
