Spring Break
Walker makes the difference in win
Marc Gauthier
Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: Sports
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Walker darted up the court, weaving in and out of several Missouri players. As he crossed the half-court line, it was apparent Walker was on a mission.
He stutter-stepped in front of DeMarre Carroll and got the ball to Hasheem Thabeet for the and-one play.
On a day when UConn needed a career performance to overcome the Tigers, it was Walker who stepped up to the challenge.
"You know, I told Kemba around the 10-minute mark, he's growing up today," said senior A.J. Price. "He grew up. He played like a man among boys. There were times he dominated the game. He definitely helped us get over this hump."
Walker finished the day with matched a career high with 23 points on 7-of-9 shooing and added five rebounds and five assists.
Walker, who hasn't scored more than 20 points since the Huskies' win over St. John's on Jan. 15, had everything going for him.
With two minutes left to play, the Huskies let the shot clock go down to about eight seconds and appeared to have no good look at the basket. Walker cleared out Jeff Adrien from the foul line, took Missouri's Zaire Taylor off the dribble and banked in a circus shot to put UConn up by five points.
"The guy was actually played me kind of well," Walker said. "I was turning and turning and I had to get it up. I just threw it up, God helped me and it went in."
With the game in his hands, and Missouri making a comeback, something inside Walker clicked. He couldn't lose this game. Not on this day. Not with his teammates.
I felt like A.J. didn't have the best game, Hasheem didn't have the best game and I didn't want to lose, basically, and I didn't want my seniors to lose, so I went out there and basically just did anything possible for us to win," said Walker.
One of Walker's biggest additions to Saturday's game was his free throw shooting down the stretch. Walker hit four consecutive free throws with a minute to play to increase UConn's lead.
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