National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Connecticut 69, Louisville 66
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 12, 2011
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: # Ed Corbett, # John Gaffney, # Mike Roberts
Attendance: 19375

Kemba Walker scored 19 points and had a key assist in the final minute as No. 19 Connecticut secured its seventh Big East tournament title with a 69-66 victory over No. 14 Louisville on Saturday in New York.

Jeremy Lamb was on the receiving end of Walker’s assist and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the ninth-seeded Huskies (26-9), who became the first team to win the Big East tournament with five victories in five days.

Preston Knowles scored 18 points for third seeded Louisville (25-9).

With its impressive run, Connecticut may have worked its way up to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Knowles scored seven straight Louisville points, capped by a jumper which gave the Cardinals a 64-63 lead with 1:57 to go.

After a turnover by Walker and a missed jumper by Knowles, Connecticut called a timeout and drew up a play for Walker. He drove in from the right side and wrapped a pass around a defender to Lamb for the go-ahead layup with 33 seconds remaining.

Walker's two free throws following a Shabazz Napier steal gave Connecticut a 67-64 lead with 16 seconds to go.

Louisville had a chance to force overtime when Walker fouled Mike Marra on a 3-point attempt with 3.9 seconds left, but Marra missed the second free throw and hit the third, which left Louisville a point down.

Napier put the finishing touches on the win with a pair of free throws, and Knowles 3-point attempt was off at the buzzer.

Walker, who played 190 of a possible 205 minutes in the tournament, was named Most Valuable Player.

Top Game Performances
 
Connecticut   Louisville
Kemba Walker 19 Scoring Preston Knowles 18
Jeremy Lamb 3 Assists Peyton Siva 7
Alex Oriakhi 8 Rebounds Peyton Siva 7
Kemba Walker 7 Free Throws Made Terrence Jennings 3
Shabazz Napier 3 Steals Preston Knowles 3
Jeremy Lamb 2 Blocks Preston Knowles 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Connecticut 69 41.8 3-11 20-23 9 31 4 12
Louisville 66 44.8 7-25 7-10 15 30 3 7