Connecticut ends San Diego State’s sweet season

Had Connecticut guards Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb missed the bus, called in sick, or both fouled out with 38 minutes left, San Diego State might have won Thursday’s West Regional semifinal game by 30.
But that didn’t happen.

You talk about a two-man game.
Walker and Lamb combined for 60 points to lead Connecticut to a 74-67 win over the Aztecs at the Honda Center to advance to Saturday’s regional final game.
Walker scored 36 and Lamb added 24, which amounted to 81.1% of the Huskies’ offense.
Connecticut (29-9) survived and advanced.
“We’re 40 minutes away from where we want to be,” Huskies Coach Jim Calhoun said.
San Diego State’s dream season came to a screeching halt, with the Aztecs losing for the first time this year to a team other than Brigham Young.

“Don’t be afraid to cry,” Coach Steve Fisher said after finishing the season 34-3. “Don’t be ashamed to shed a tear.”
That wasn’t going to be a problem.
The winner moved on to Saturday and the loser moved on to the postmortems.
The game-changing moments will be hard to shake.
“So many factors,” Fisher said, “especially when you don’t move on — especially when it’s a relatively close game.”
Kawhi Leonard will remember the open three-pointer he missed in the final two minutes that would have given San Diego State the lead.
“I thought when he shot it it was going to go in,” Fisher said. “He’s a money player.”
The Aztecs then got back on defense, forced Walker into a missed shot but then allowed Connecticut’s Alex Oriakhi to get the offensive rebound.
He flipped the ball out to Lamb, who, with 1:42 left, hit the kind of three-point shot that stings for years.

A bounty of basketball

Men’s college basketball: Super Tuesday brings us four Top 25 men’s games, all on the ESPN family of networks.

• At 7 p.m. ET, No. 3 Ohio State looks to avoid its third Big Ten loss when it hosts Illinois (ESPN). The Buckeyes have won four straight and nine of the last 11 meetings in the series.

• At 8 p.m., No. 5 Texas hopes to recover from its upset at Nebraska when struggling Iowa State comes to town (ESPN3.com). The Cyclones face their fourth straight ranked opponent and have lost nine straight overall.

• At 9 p.m., No. 18 Vanderbilt hosts Tennessee in a battle of the Volunteer State (ESPN). The Commodores have won three of four and five of their last seven home games against the Volunteers.

• At 9 p.m. on ESPNU, No. 16 Louisville visits Rutgers, always tough at home, though the Cardinals are 8-1 all-time at the RAC.

Women’s college basketball: Five of the Top 25 teams play tonight, including new No. 1 UConn, which hosts Big East doormat Seton Hall at 7 p.m. UConn has won an NCAA-record 76 straight home games. … In another Big East tilt, No. 18 West Virginia hosts No. 7 Notre Dame. … Fresh off its upset of then-No. 1 Baylor, Texas Tech looks to pull off another stunner at No. 5 Texas A&M. … No. 22 Marquette is also in action tonight.

NBA: The NBA returns from its All-Star break with nine games. The Knicks don’t play until Wednesday, so we’ll have to wait at least one more day for Carmelo Anthony’s debut with his new team. Here are a few we’re keeping our eyes on:

• The Nuggets play against the Grizzlies tonight at 9 p.m. in their first game since star Carmelo Anthony’s reported trade.

• Despite tweaking his ankle in the All-Star Game, Dwyane Wade is expected to play when the Heat host the struggling Kings at 7:30 p.m.

• The Kevin Love double-double watch continues when the Timberwolves visit Milwaukee at 8 p.m. Love has 42 consecutive double-doubles, just two games shy of the second-most consecutive double-doubles since the NBA-ABA merger.

• Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant on the same court? Yes, please. The Clippers continue their epic 11-game road trip with a stop at the Thunder at 8 p.m.

• As long as the entire Celtics team was in L.A. for the All-Star Game (a slight exaggeration), they might as well stay on the West Coast for a four-game swing. Boston visits Golden State at 10:30 p.m. The Celtics have lost six straight at the Warriors.

• At 10:30 p.m., the Hawks visit All-Star Game MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, who lost their last three games before the All-Star break.

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