NEW YORK — Kemba Walker is long gone from the UConn Huskies and the UConn Huskies are long gone from the Big East Conference.
But on a warm November night inside an electric Madison Square Garden, Shabazz Napier evoked memories of Walker’s March Madness run a few years back.
With a split crowd going wild, Napier, generously listed at 6 feet, 1 inch, went off for 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting as No. 18 UConn beat Indiana, 59-58, to capture the 2K Sports Classic.
In winning two games in two nights at the Garden, the Huskies now have two more wins here this month than the building’s main tenant: the New York Knicks.
Napier was named MVP of the event after scoring 8 of UConn’s last 11 points.
“Shabazz Napier is just too good,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “I imagine it would be in the NFL like trying to deal with Barry Sanders or Adrian Peterson now or something like that, where a guy can change direction at the drop of a hat. He can play with both hands, both feet. He’s explosive to the basket. He’s got the straight pull-up, he’s got the step-back, he’s got the 3. And he’s got one of those unteachable abilities to make big shots at really crucial times.”
Perhaps caught up in the moment a little bit, Crean went so far as to call Napier a “12-13 year pro.”
“I don’t care about size or anything, he makes big shots,” Crean said.
One NBA scout sitting courtside was a little more tempered in his assessment.
“He wants and make big shots, but he’s at best a third guard in the NBA,” the scout said.
It may just be that Shabazz Napier is a really good college basketball player, and right now he looks about as good as any guard in the nation not named Marcus Smart.
The truth is, he’s been playing at this type of level for a couple of years now, but nobody noticed last season because UConn flew under the radar when it was banned from the postseason.
Now in his senior season, Napier is looking to do big things, culminating in a March Madness run of his own that approximates what Kemba did en route to the 2011 Big East and NCAA championships.
“Yeah, of course I do [model my game after Walker],” Napier said. “That’s my big brother. I try to emulate everything that he does in a sense, but also put my type of talent, my type of skills on it. I’m not trying to be him. That’s some hard shoes to fill. So I’m just trying to be Shabazz. If I go out there and play the way I played, minus the free throws and minus the turnovers, I think I should be good.”
In a game with 13 lead changes, Napier and Indiana sophomore guard Yogi Ferrell went back-and-forth across several possessions, but Napier got the last laugh when he drove in, hesitated at the basket before scooping in a layup around Evan Gordon for a 59-58 lead with 1:34 left.
Noah Vonleh, who struggled through his worst game as a collegian, had one last look in the final seconds but misfired as time expired.
“[Napier] is definitely a big shot-maker for them and we knew that coming into the game, especially him being a senior,” said Ferrell, who finished with a team-best 19 points.
“He’s more experienced. It was a fun matchup going against him and I learned a few things.”
On a night when no one else on UConn scored in double-figures, Napier had to take over the game for his team.
UConn coach Kevin Ollie wants Napier to impart his leadership skills to his teammates as the season moves along.
“He’s just a fighter, he’s just a warrior,” said Ollie, a 13-year NBA veteran. “He never gets down on himself. He has a special gift. For him to get to that next level he has to give away that gift, the leadership that he’s providing right now.”
The Huskies will play their American Athletic Conference postseason tournament in Memphis, far from the bright lights of the Big Apple and where Walker wowed the crowd a few years back.
But this team appears headed to the postseason, and perhaps another March Madness.
How far they go appears destined to fall on Napier’s shoulders.
