Shabazz Napier, UConn head back to MSG for Sweet Sixteen

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

In what few would call a surprising upset, the 7th-seeded Connecticut Huskies took down the 2nd-seeded Villanova Wildcats 77-65 late last night behind a gutty effort by Shabazz Napier. With the win, the Huskies advance to their first Sweet Sixteen since their 2011, when a player named Kemba Walker led the Huskies to their third national championship.

If Walker is number one on the UConn Men’s Basketball Lore depth chart, Napier is a definitely a close second. The senior scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half despite rolling his ankle in the first half and aggravating something in his leg late in the second half. He played 25 minutes in the game, well below his 34.8 minute per game average, thanks in large part to early foul trouble which limited him to eight minutes in the first half.

Napier is always a constant for the UConn offense but freshman Terrence Samuel (11 points) and fifth-year senior Lasan Kromah (12 points) were equally important. The two came in averaging just eight points per game combined but as head coach Kevin Ollie said after a win against Maryland in the first game of the year, “I don’t know when I’m going to put you in the game, but be ready. Next man up, that’s what we believe in our locker room.” Now they’re headed to the Sweet Sixteen and that belief still rings loud and true. For Samuel, who was inserted once Napier picked up his second foul, his coach’s advice may have played a role in his success. “He told me, go in there and do what you do,” Samuel said after the game.

Ollie and the Huskies will remain in their New York state of mind as they travel from Buffalo to New York City for a date with either Iowa State or North Carolina next Friday at “The Mecca,” Madison Square Garden. For you non-Big East fans out there, MSG is where the conference tournament has been held since 1980 and although UConn is now a member of the American Athletic Conference, their legacy in the most famous arena in sports has been well-documented.

• 2011 — UConn won their seventh and final Big East Tournament as the #9 seed after winning five games in five days despite just a .500 (9-9) record in conference play behind Walker’s guidance.
• 2009 — Here’s where they met the Syracuse Orange in the quarterfinals for one of the most epic college basketball games of all time, a six overtime thriller that was eventually won by the Orange. If you’ve got three hours to kill, here’s the video of the game on ESPN Classic.

• 2004 — Led by tournament MVP Ben Gordon‘s go-ahead jumper with 39 seconds left, the Huskies took down Pittsburgh for their sixth Big East Tournament title. They’d go on to win their second national championship later that year, taking down Georgia Tech 82-73. Gordon was the leading scorer for the tournament (154 points in 6 games).
• 1999 — Kevin Freeman led the Huskies to the Big East Tournament title at the Garden but it was guard Richard Hamilton who led the Huskies to their first ever national championship.
• 1996 — The Huskies needed a bucket by Ray Allen with 13.6 seconds left to seal their second Big East Tournament, 75-74, despite being down 74-63 with 4:46 remaining. Yes, you read that correct, UConn scored the game’s final 12 points and former coach Jim Calhoun provided this gem afterwards, saying, “It’s a great win but we have higher aspirations. That’ why we didn’t cut the nets down.”

You get the idea.

The one thing going against Napier and these Huskies, however, is that they’re no longer in the Big East, they no  longer gather momentum via postseason tournament titles at Madison Square Garden, and they’re playing in the East Region. All three of their national championships were captured after Big East Tournament titles and while playing out of the West Region.Is this a be all, end all? Probably not, unless you believe heavily in superstition.

The Huskies are far more familiar with MSG than either one of the teams they’ll face next Friday. Not to mention they’ll almost assuredly have throngs of Husky fans to support them; the Garden is just a two and a half hour drive from the Storrs campus.

Can Napier and company rekindle the magic they’ve had at the Garden? If they can, Napier will have no problem unseating Walker atop the UConn Men’s Basketball Lore leaderboard.