National Basketball Association
Connecticut 74, San Diego St. 67
When: 7:15 PM ET, Thursday, March 24, 2011
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Officials:
# Patrick Adams, # Tom O'Neill, # Steve Olson
Attendance:
17890
By SportsDirect Inc.
ANAHEIM – Junior guard Kemba Walker torched San Diego State for 36 points as No. 3 seed UConn held on to win 74-67 in a West Region semifinal Thursday.
The Huskies (29-9) will face Arizona in the Elite Eight on Saturday. The second-seeded Aztecs (34-3) had no answer for Walker, who outscored them 14-3 in one second-half spurt and made 12-of-25 shots.
Freshman Jeremy Lamb added 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
San Diego State, which trailed by nine with under five minutes left, closed within one behind a pair of D.J. Gay 3-pointers. But Lamb hit a back-breaking three with 1:39 left.
Aztecs star Kawhi Leonard picked up an early technical and was plagued by foul trouble. He finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Gay scored 16, Billy White 14 and Malcolm Thomas 13.
The Aztecs killed themselves at the foul line, making 6 of 13. They also committed two costly technicals.
UConn, which closed the first half on a 19-5 run to lead 36-27, won its eighth straight and ended the best season in San Diego State history.
Top Game Performances
| Connecticut |
|
San Diego St. |
|
Kemba Walker 36 |
Scoring |
D.J. Gay 16 |
|
Shabazz Napier 6 |
Assists |
Kawhi Leonard 4 |
|
Alex Oriakhi 9 |
Rebounds |
Kawhi Leonard 9 |
|
Kemba Walker 8 |
Free Throws Made |
D.J. Gay 2 |
|
Kemba Walker 2 |
Steals |
D.J. Gay 2 |
|
Roscoe Smith 2 |
Blocks |
Chase Tapley 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Connecticut
|
74 |
47.4 |
8-16 |
12-16 |
13 |
30 |
3 |
5 |
|
| San Diego St.
|
67 |
42.2 |
7-22 |
6-13 |
14 |
32 |
1 |
4 |
|