Walker, UConn top Hoyas

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Kemba Walker had the ball near the free-throw line and, after a switch, was being covered by a player 9 inches taller than him.

Walker had quite a list of possible plays in front of him. He could have faked and faded for a jumper. He could have put his head down and drove and then either tried to score or pass.

What he finally did isn't on the list of options for almost every basketball player in the world.

Walker faked to his left, then threw the ball hard off the backboard and, since he was the only player who had any inkling of the play, grabbed the ball and flipped it in from about 4 feet, just one of his many highlight-reel plays in No. 13 Connecticut's 78-70 win over ninth-ranked Georgetown on Wednesday night.

"I just seen the lane open and at the time it was the only play available so I went for it," said Walker, who had 31 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. "I did it a lot in pickup over the summer, but I never did it in a game. I don't know what Coach would have done if I missed it."

Since he did make the shot, we know that Huskies coach Jim Calhoun laughed about it after the game.

"I haven't seen the bank play in quite some time, as in never," Calhoun said. "A kid from West Virginia tried it against us one time and it was unsuccessful. That one was him. Obviously he was wonderful."

And what did Walker's teammates think?

"He's done it in pickup but never in a game," forward Alex Oriakhi said. "I thought, 'What are you doing?' Then he put it in and we all went crazy."

The win ended Georgetown's eight-game winning streak and was a huge boost for Connecticut, which had lost three of five, including two at home.

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel had 23 points in his second straight big game for the Huskies (20-5, 8-5 Big East).

Coombs-McDaniel is on a two-game run nobody could have expected. On Sunday, the sophomore forward had 25 points in a victory over Providence, 14 above his career high entering the game. Even with that he came in averaging 5.4 points. He scored his 23 on 8-for-11 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

Chris Wright had 19 points for the Hoyas (20-6, 9-5), who went on their winning streak after starting conference play 1-4.

"They put the ball in Kemba's hands and let him make plays," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said.

Wright had an explanation for what happened to the Hoyas.

"We got two very good looks (at the end of the game). The ball didn't go," he said. "The offensive end was not the issue; it was the defensive end. As a team we didn't play our usual defense, and that's what led to a lot of easy shots for Kemba and his teammates."

A few of Walker's shots were far from easy.

The 6-foot-1-inch junior had a highlight reel full of incredible drives to the basket, going under, around and sometimes it seemed through bigger defenders.

Georgetown's last lead was at 70-69 on a basket by Austin Freeman with 4:01 left. But that was the Hoyas' last field goal of the game as the Huskies closed on a 9-0 run with Walker scoring the first three points.