Connecticut taking it to Kentucky, up 45-29 with 2:08 left in the first half.

Some nerdy Connecticut student manager just shut the camera out of the Connecticut huddle after a Kentucky timeout. Dumbass.

Kemba Walker drains a 3-pointer and he has 17 points. Alex Oriakhi with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting

Connecticut up 50-29 with :57 left in first half. Connecticut is on a 21-2 run.

UCONN is LEGIT and Kemba Walker is a BEAST.

Absolute clinic by Walker and UCONN. This game is hard to watch.
If Uconn can pull off the win, Im wondering how high they will jump in the polls with 2 huge wins.

Uconn certainly looks like an NCAA tourney team to me. Hell, they've already got 2 signature wins for the their resume.

^ Yeah, they're in. They're much much better than last year already. And they've got confidence.

They are a TEAM this year. UCONN will always have talent, but they didn't have ANY chemistry last season.

wildcats20;573385 wrote:I guess I never saw stats on Brandon Knight from HS....

He scored over 3500 points. That is fucking insane.

Tweety Carter(Baylor) laughs at that stat.

If Kemba Walker continues to play out of his mind all season, UConn is gonna be tough. Wins over MSU and UK, in back-to-back games, will definitely be an impressive achievement on their resume once March arrives. It still remains to be seen how they will do during Big East play, but I think they're a tournament team without a doubt, and should end up with a pretty decent record even after going through the tough Big East.

It's hard to believe that Connecticut was picked 10th to finish in the Big East. Is the Big East really THAT tough?

Kentucky's Terrence Jones is an absolute stud. He big, strong, and can handle.He has a nice jumper and can power the ball underneath. He is a match-up nightmare. It will be interesting to watch his progress over the course of the year.

Who doesn't appreciate the display that Kemba Walker put on? He hit from deep, hit fade-aways in the lane, attacked the basket, and ,most importantly, led his team. The question is; Can he continue to put up the numbers UConn needs to win.

Leonardo;575013 wrote:It's hard to believe that Connecticut was picked 10th to finish in the Big East. Is the Big East really THAT tough?

Well, I doubt anyone had Kemba Walker playing as the unanimous POY for them, or anywhere near AA level. I mean, the guy showed tremendous potential as a freshman, and then didnt build on that at all last season. But he goes from averaging 10 a game through 70 games to just exploding on the nations best for 30 a night.

If he had only been at around 14 a game, like most probably had him, we arent talking about UCONN as a top 10 team when the next rankings come out.

Friday games

Old Spice Classic semifinals:
Boston College vs. Wisconsin, 12 PM, ESPN
Notre Dame/Georgia vs. Temple/California, 5 PM, ESPN2

76 Classic semifinals:
Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State, 2:30 PM, ESPN/ESPN2
Murray State/Stanford vs. Tulsa/UNLV, 9:30 PM, ESPNU

Pre-season NIT:
Consolation - UCLA vs. VCU, 2:30 PM, ESPN/ESPN2
Championship - (7) Villanova vs. (24) Tennessee, 5 PM, ESPN

Notre Dame: 79
Georgia: 76
1:39 left in 2nd OT

Friday games

Old Spice Classic semifinals:
Boston College vs. Wisconsin, 12 PM, ESPN
Notre Dame vs. Temple/California, 5 PM, ESPN2

76 Classic semifinals:
Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State, 2:30 PM, ESPN/ESPN2
Murray State/Stanford vs. Tulsa/UNLV, 9:30 PM, ESPNU

Pre-season NIT:
Consolation - UCLA vs. VCU, 2:30 PM, ESPN/ESPN2
Championship - (7) Villanova vs. (24) Tennessee, 5 PM, ESPN

It will be interesting to see if Walker's performance in Maui was more of an indicator of how much he has improved since last year, or just how good Walker is going to have to play to keep Connecticut at this competitive of a level. We won't find that out until the Big East season tips off.

I think it's more the latter and that Walker really played an out-of-this-world three days of basketball and that UConn will revert back to a more expected pace, maybe a little better. We've seen this before. On a team level, we saw the Ball State Cardinals come from out of nowhere to roll #3 UCLA and #4 Kansas in the first two rounds of the 2001 Maui Invitational, before eventually falling to #1 Duke, who took home its third Maui Invite championship, advancing its record in the event to that date to 9-0. UConn is much better than Ball State, obviously. So the program aspect is completely different. However, it was the best example I could think of at the moment to explain UConn's surprisingly torrid play out on the islands.

I do think Walker is a superb talent, right now the best player, performance-wise, in the country. But for UConn to keep at this burning pace, he will have to continue to put up numbers in the high-20s, because the rest of the Husky cast isn't as good as some of the other front-runners this season. I'm not sure that's reasonable.

With that said, UConn absolutely smacked Kentucky last night. Perhaps Jim Calhoun has something brewing in Storrs.

reclegend22;575472 wrote:It will be interesting to see if Walker's performance in Maui was more of an indicator of how much he has improved since last year, or just how good Walker is going to have to play to keep Connecticut at this competitive of a level. We won't find that out until the Big East season tips off.

I think it's more the latter and that Walker really played an out-of-this-world three days of basketball and that UConn will revert back to a more expected pace, maybe a little better. We've seen this before. On a team level, we saw the Ball State Cardinals come from out of nowhere to roll #3 UCLA and #4 Kansas in the first two rounds of the 2001 Maui Invitational, before eventually falling to #1 Duke, who took home its third Maui Invite championship, advancing its record in the event to that date to 9-0. UConn is much better than Ball State, obviously. So the program aspect is completely different. However, it was the best example I could think of at the moment to explain UConn's surprisingly torrid play out on the islands.

I do think Walker is a superb talent, right now the best player, performance-wise, in the country. But for UConn to keep at this burning pace, he will have to continue to put up numbers in the high-20s, because the rest of the Husky cast isn't as good as some of the other front-runners this season. I'm not sure that's reasonable.

Best example or only way you could mention Duke and their record at the Maui Invitational?

Notre Dame topped California today in the semifinals of the '76 Classic. The most note-worthy story of this game was the fact that Notre Dame led, 21-5 at halftime.

In the "Chicago Invitational Challenge"

Final:

Purdue 54 Richmond 65

Notre Dame made a late run to beat Wisconsin in the final of the Old Spice Classic, I think the final was 78-71. Mike Brey has the Irish off to a 7-0 start with some impressive wins.

and Nd will fade as the season goes on, like always......

who is that guy on their team that looks almost like harongody?

Did they fade last year after losing Harangody? Or did you not realize they lost a player who was Big East player of the year. I thought they actually responded pretty well to losing someone who was a solid 25/10 guy in the Big East. Sometimes it amazes me the amount of blind hatred for a school who isn't even a rival of Ohio State.

Midstate01;580161 wrote:who is that guy on their team that looks almost like harongody?

Haha I couldn't believe it when I saw that guy in the game against Georgia.



Anyways... I know they'll probably still steamroll the OVC, but Murray State is off to a disappointing start. They aren't losing to bad teams, but they're getting beaten pretty soundly by decent ones (16 point L to Ole Miss, 14 to UNLV, 17 to Oklahoma State).