And while Kemba hasn’t exactly disappointed these past two games, it has been Jeremy Lamb — the long-armed Robin to Kemba’s Batman — that put UConn into the Final Four.
Against San Diego State, Kemba had 34 points and took over the game down the stretch. He scored all 12 points in a 12-2 run that turned a 54-53 deficit into a 65-56 lead with just over four minutes left. But San Diego State scored the next eight points, cutting UConn’s lead to just one with 1:39 left.
That’s when Lamb stepped up.
The freshman drilled a 3-pointer to stop the Aztecs’ run and, with just 30 seconds left, made a steal that led to a dunk, giving UConn a 70-64 lead and sealing the win. Lamb finished with 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
Against Arizona, Lamb played just as big of a role down the stretch. Kemba was struggling in the second half, as Arizona was running two or three guys at him when he would try to penetrate. The space wasn’t there, so coach Jim Calhoun used him almost as a decoy, running off of screens and setting up Lamb along the baseline. And the youngster responded, finishing with 12 of his 19 points in the second half.
It wasn’t just the points he scored, however. It was when he scored them.
Just make the trade already for fux sakes. And to all our great mods feel free to lock this thread ASAP but Lamb is such a shadowing topic discussed on this board that he should have his own thread. At least until the trade deadline is over.
