|
 "Growing up I wanted to be Superman. Everyone wants to be a hero,"
he said, surrounded by media after a lovefest with the UConn fans in
Gampel Pavilion. "I just felt I was fortunate enough to be in the
right spot at the right time."
That would have been the free throw line, where he gathered a loose
ball after teammate DeAndre Daniels tipped back Napier's miss of an
off balance shot and buried a jumper at the buzzer to give the
Huskies a 65-64 victory over No. 15 Florida.
"It went in slow motion," said Napier, who scored 26 points and made
a four-point play with 33 seconds to go. "Point nine. Point eight. I
just tried to shoot the ball as quick as I can but still shoot it
regular. As soon as I let it go I felt it was going in."
Napier, limping a bit on a left ankle he hurt while making the
four-point play, escaped a trap around 30 feet from the basket,
recovered the ball and got off a wild shot that missed but was
tipped blindly back by Daniels.
"I was just trying to get a tip-in in case he missed," Daniels said.
"I guess I glanced it a little bit but what an amazing player
Shabazz is. He hit a great shot. He willed his team to win that
game. He never gave up. The heart that kid has. Everybody on the
team follows his lead."
Florida coach Billy Donovan was happy with how his team defended the
last possession. It was some loose ball rebounds in the play that
led to Napier's four-point play that disappointed him.
"We made the decision we would trap him and we got him to take a
very difficult off-balance shot," Donavan said. "The guy who won the
game for them was DeAndre Daniels, who made an unbelievable tip out
when he was off balance which kept the ball alive. We had guys on
Napier who ran to the rim to defensive rebound which left a space
for Napier. I have a lot of respect for Napier at the end of games.
I think he's a big shot-making guy. His shot was luck because it was
tipped to him."
Napier's left-handed jumper went through as the horn sounded and set
off a deafening cheer from the sellout crowd of 10,167 at Gampel
Pavilion. He was 9 of 15 from the field, making 5 of 8 from 3-point
range.
"Shabazz was phenomenal," Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie said. "When
we needed the big shot he hit it. When we needed the big play he
made it. ... He is one of the big-time players to wear the jersey
and walk on the floor at Gampel Pavilion."
The Huskies (8-0) and Florida (6-2), which had a five-game winning
streak snapped, battled down the stretch, exchanging the lead six
times in the final 6 minutes.
[to top of second column] |
Daniels had 14 points for Connecticut, which was
outrebounded 34-26, but was able to make up a size difference
with its strong guard play on the perimeter. This was
Connecticut's first game this season against a ranked opponent.
Florida's previous loss was in its only game against a ranked
team, Wisconsin.
Casey Prather had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Gators,
while Patric Young had 17 points and seven rebounds. Scottie
Wilbekin, playing in his third game of the season after being
suspended for the first four, had 15 points but he injured an
ankle with 3:01 to play, was taken to the locker room and never
returned.
"I was concerned coming down the stretch with Scottie being
out," said Donovan, who said he knew it was a sprained ankle but
to what he degree he wasn't sure. "I didn't think we could guard
Napier at least for that 3 minutes. So we decided to play 1-3-1
zone and try to use our length. ... We went man on the last
possession."
After Wilbekin left Young took over, scoring the Gators' next
seven points, two baskets on his hook shot and another on an
offensive rebound.
That made it 62-59 Florida with 1:18 to play.
Connecticut missed two 3-point attempts but got the rebound on
both. Napier took a 25-foot jumper that swished and he was
fouled by Dorian Finney-Smith. The joy of the crowd was tempered
as Napier stayed on the court for about a minute, holding his
left ankle.
Ollie called a timeout so Napier could stay in the game and take
the free throw. He made it to give the Huskies a 63-62 lead with
33 seconds left.
"I was more disappointed in the possession before the final
play," Donovan said. "I watched the film and there was no foul.
But we missed two opportunities to rebound the ball. I was
disappointed in that.'"
Michael Frazier II, with Connecticut paying a lot of attention
to Young inside, drove to the basket and scored with 17 seconds
left to give the Gators a 64-63 lead.
The ball was in Napier's hands for the final shot and he finally
did score after Daniels tipped the ball back to him.
Florida outscored the Huskies 32-14 in the paint as Connecticut
struggled to defend Young, who was 6 of 10 from the field.
Florida committed 16 turnovers, two more than the Huskies in a
game that was physical on all 94 feet of the court.
The programs' only other meeting was in the 1994 Sweet 16, when
the Gators won 69-60 in overtime on the way to the Final Four.
[Associated
Press; JIM O'CONNELL, AP Basketball Writer]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
