There was nothing Kemba Walker could do but laugh off the pain. As Syracuse iced its win with free throws, the chants began 20 feet away.

‘N-I-T! N-I-T!’

Walker turned toward the wave of orange and smiled. He never thought he’d hear those three letters. Definitely not after the way his team stormed back Wednesday.

‘Nobody wants to go in the NIT,’ said Walker, shaking his head. ‘It’s tough. It’s tough.’

Tough because Connecticut’s game plan worked. With fellow guard Jerome Dyson, Walker attacked Syracuse’s unforgiving 2-3 zone head on, turning a blowout into a thriller. UConn (14-10, 4-7 Big East) fell behind by 16 points in the second half but clawed back behind two of the toughest pound-for-pound guards in the Big East.

Combining for 33 points and 11 assists, Dyson and Walker willed the Huskies back into the game before losing, 72-67.

This was yet another punch-in-the-gut loss along a season to forget for UConn. But the duo sure made things interesting. Rather than swing the ball around the perimeter – waiting for a player to flash – Connecticut’s approach was simple. Go hard.

Dyson and Walker looked to penetrate, looked to be the aggressor.

‘They’re great guards,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘They’re tremendous players. Kemba made some tough shots today, some really tough shots in the lane.’

Once Kris Joseph scored to make it a 59-53 game, the script was set. So many times this season, the Orange (24-1, 11-1) has weathered brief scares in the second half to cruise late. Only this game, the underdog barked back. Walker and Dyson went on a two-man tear. Using a high screen, Walker drained three tough jumpers in the lane. The 172-pound dynamo’s subtle stutter-steps and quick release was the zone’s kryptonite.

And with a pair of 3-pointers, Dyson completed the comeback. When his latter trey dropped to tie the game at 65 with 2:53 left, Dyson pumped his fist and screamed ‘Let’s go!’ toward the SU bench. UConn’s plan was working. Unlike Cincinnati and other Big East teams, the Huskies chose penetrating over passing. Aggression over patience.

‘Our game plan coming into the game was to be aggressive against the zone,’ Walker said.

Further complicating matters for Syracuse was foul trouble. SU needed to play on its heels with Andy Rautins facing a cruel Catch-22. For the final 7:41, he played with four fouls. With Dyson and Walker ramming themselves into the paint each possession, Rautins needed to be careful. But not too careful.

At every turn, Walker was sure to remind Rautins that he had four fouls. That he’d be gone soon.

‘He told me, ‘We’re going at you every time,” Rautins said. ‘I said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. Come to me every time.’ Fortunately, there wasn’t too much contact.’

While Walker did the talking, Dyson did the walking. Relentlessly face-guarding Rautins, Dyson held the SU senior scoreless through the first half. Rautins never picked up a fifth foul, but he also had no breathing room on offense.

Dyson said he knew exactly what SU’s shooting guard was doing each play. Coaches had him ready. So he jumped passes and stayed one step ahead.

‘I kind of knew what to expect once the play was called,’ Dyson said. ‘I was able to cut off where he wanted to go before he got there.’

Dyson’s night was tiresome to say the least. On offense, he was muscling his way through one of the nation’s best defenses. On ‘D,’ he was chasing Rautins. And it was all for nothing.

Slouched onto a chair inside the media room afterward, Dyson had one ice bag on his right knee and another on his right ankle. He was exhausted and out of answers. UConn’s guards attacked the 2-3 zone all night and were seconds from a season-saving win. Upsetting Syracuse would have been the signature win UConn needed to make the NCAA Tournament.

But instead, the team veered toward another tournament. One Connecticut hasn’t seen since 2001.

Hearing those three letters over and over again hurts.

‘It seems like we don’t really play until our backs are against the wall,’ Dyson said. ‘We need the mentality to do it right now.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on February 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm