Seven is supposed to be a lucky number, and 13 is supposed to be the unluckiest one of all. But Connecticut is the first ever No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournaments 64-or-more era headed to the Final Four, and its going there on the back of the guard who wears No. 13, Shabazz Napier. If someone mistakenly refers to Napier as Shazam today, they can be forgiven the slip, because he was absolutely magical while scoring 17 of his 25 points in the second half as UConn stormed back from a nine-point deficit to outlast heavily favored Michigan State, 60-54. Napier hit all nine of his free throw attempts, including three clinching ones with 37.6 seconds left. But he has distinguished himself as UConns difference-maker on defense. Many college kids play hard-nosed D. With Napier, who played with a bloody nose in the second half, its more like stone-nosed. And it has been infectious for a team that looks like its invoking its DNA as a member of the original Big East. If the refs were to tell UConn that the playground rule of no-blood, no-foul will be installed at the Final Four not one Husky would blink. The crowd at Madison Square Garden savored seeing the old school, throwback style of UConn, which might as well have had home-team status. A quick look at the stat sheet from Sundays East Regional final would make most traditionalist basketball accountants think Michigan State was the winner. The Spartans had numerical wins all over the place, except on the scoreboard. They won the field-goal percentage battle, 39.1 percent to 34.7. They absolutely crushed UConn from three-point territory, nailing 11 while making 37.9 percent to UConns 22.7. And they had a slight edge on the boards, 32-30. But Connecticut doubled up MSU on turnovers, committing only eight while forcing a game-deciding 16. As Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told CBS afterward, Connecticut didnt just get turnovers; it got turnovers for touchdowns. Napier had only two turnovers in 37 minutes. His partner in what might be college basketballs best backcourt, Ryan Boatright, committed just one during his 38 minutes. When a team has guards whose legs dont wither and whose hands dont falter despite sitting for only a combined five minutes, yeah, thats the stuff Final Four scripts are made of. In their second game, they made Villanovas second-seeded cast of three-point shooters look downright fragile at times while winning by 12. That was where Napier really started to enter the national consciousness. His 25 points were impressive, especially when he nailed three consecutive three-pointers to give UConn the lead. But what captured the imagination of basketball junkies was seeing him limp off, looking like he was done for the night with an ankle injury, only to return and take charge a minute or so later. Against third-seeded Iowa State the Huskies served notice that Napier isnt their only scorer, as DeAndre Daniels came alive for 27 points. And against the fourth-seeded Spartans it was simply a matter of beating defense-oriented Michigan State at its own game. UConns victory sets up a Final Four semifinal against another defense-first team, No. 1-ranked Florida. The key matchup thats certain to be discussed and dissected is Napier going up against fellow point guard Scottie Wilbekin. Both of them were named their conferences player of the year and have been their teams go-to guy when the walls start closing in at crunch time. They also share one other interesting piece of personal history. Wilbekin could have fled from the Gators after coach Billy Donovan suspended him and said hed probably be better off transferring. But Wilbekin stayed. Similarly, Napier could have ditched UConn after the Huskies were banned from last years NCAA tournament because of vast academic shortcomings. But he stayed.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 01:05:54 +0000
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