Connecticut Huskies beat Kentucky Wildcats for Maui championship title
The Huskies are leaving the Maui invitational as champions for the first time since 2005. The 20-year-old junior Kemba Walker continued to shine as his University of Connecticut Huskies beat out the Kentucky
Wildcats 84-67 in a dominant win. This was UConn’s second upset in as many nights, defeating the number two ranked Michigan State Spartans the night before.
Tournament MVP Walker had another stellar night, registering 29 points. Alex Orhiaki added another 18 points and registered 11 rebounds. The Huskies dominated almost from the very start, leading the game
50-29 by half time. The Wild Cats couldn’t muster enough offence to make up for such a large gap in the second half.
When the Wildcats tried to come out hard to start the second half, Walker was right there to shut them down. The Huskies guard ran back smiling at the crowd after he sunk an impressive left-hander in the
lane for three points. When it became clear that the Huskies would take this match, Kentucky fans began filing out of the Lahaina Civic Center, leaving UConn fans chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” as Walker held the ball in the final seconds the game.
For the Huskies, the win means more than just the championship title. After entering the tournament unranked and expected to perform poorly, UConn dominated throughout the tournament, knocking out two
supposedly better teams in the top ten. “We wanted to show the world that we’re still UConn,” said Walker.
“This is a great step for us,” said Huskies coach Jim Calhoun of his team’s victory. “It’s letting people know that we are Connecticut, have been Connecticut for the past 20-something years and we think
we’re a pretty good basketball team.” No one should doubt that after what the team has accomplished in Maui.
Kentucky freshman Terrence Jones had a strong start to the game. Unfortunately his lack of discipline resulted in a considerable amount of time on the bench. After committing two fouls, Kentucky coach
John Calipari was forced to bench the phenom for the final 9:01 of the first half.
Despite having his time on the court cut down significantly, Jones still managed to register 24 points. Darius Miller was also good for 15 points. The rest of the teams starters were only 6-for-26 collectively,
and shot for a dismal 36 per cent.
The Wildcats spent far too much time playing 1-on-1. Instead of sending the ball out to shooters, they seemed far too committing to challenging UConn’s size inside. The result: Kentucky only made nine
of 30 shots through the first 20 minutes of play.
“We were outplayed, out-coached, out-everythinged” said Kentucky coach John Calipari after the game. Calipari described the game as a shellacking. “They came out with a viciousness and toughness we couldn’t
match, from the start of the game” said the disappointed bench-boss, whose team hasn’t claimed the Maui invitational title since 1993.
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