NCAA Tournament: Kemba Walker Carries UConn To 69-58 Win Over Cincinnati

Walker wasn’t alone in the first half, however. Jeremy Lamb took on a secondary scoring role, adding nine points and three steals in the first half. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel had six points off the bench, Alex Oriakhi had four and Charles Okwandu with two points to round out the UConn scoring.

For Cincinnati, the efficient scoring of Rashad Bishop has kept the Bearcats close. Bishop finished the half with 10 points on 3-5 shooting. Yancy Gates had seven points and a team-high four rebounds in a complimentary role.

One of the new features of the 2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket is the possibility of conference rematches of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Connecticut vs. Cincinnati in the West Region is the first such game, with two Big East teams meeting in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. The game is the last of Saturday’s tilts, according to the updated NCAA Tournament schedule: the Huskies and Bearcats will square off at 9:40 p.m., with Tim Brando and Mike Gminski on the call.

Connecticut vivisected Bucknell in the first round, as Kemba Walker scored 18 points, dished out 12 assists, and had eight rebounds. The Huskies appear to be peaking at the right time: their five-game, five-day run through the Big East Tournament is already legendary, and Walker has been white-hot since March began, failing to score more than 20 points in a game this month only against Bucknell on Thursday. And in their only game against the Bearcats, at Cincy on Feb. 27, UConn led for all but 29 seconds and won by eight despite a cold first half from Walker. Expect the Huskies to run and run and run some more, trying to force tempo against the plodding Bearcats.