UConn vs Cincinnati AAC Tournament LIVE Stream: Napier and Kilpatrick Face Off in Semifinals
ByBoth the Cincinnati Bearcats (13) and UConn Huskies (21) are far from home Friday night in Memphis, Tenn. for the AAC Tournament semifinals.
The setting is fitting for the rubber match between these two teams who have each beaten the other at home this season. Most recently, Shabazz Napier led UConn to a 51-45 win over Cincinnati on March 1, totaling 18 points and 11 rebounds.
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Napier took home ACC Player of the Year honors in his senior season. He has also gained a lot of respect from his teammates for sticking around after the NCAA handed down sanctions against the team.
"You know what type of game that's going to be, it's going to be a war," Huskies coach Kevin Ollie told reporters of Friday's game, according to ESPN. "We gotta have that heart, we gotta have that hustle."
Cincinnati has their own senior they rally around. Sean Kilpatrick said he knows he will need to get his teammates involved to be successful. UConn will try to pressure the Bearcats leading scorer and make it difficult for him to do anything.
"I know that a lot of teams are going to have a lot of attention on me but my teammates can score as well and that's something we have on this team," Kilpatrick said, according to ESPN. "We have a lot of weapons and a lot of talent so I let my teammates take over what they can do."
As for UConn, Napier did not lead the team past Memphis, as the Huskies got 24 points from Niels Giffey. However, Napier does not believe that game was any accident for Giffey.
"He's been the greatest shooter that we've had this whole year," Napier told reporters, according to ESPN. "If you leave him open - which is kind of astonishing. Coming into this, a lot of people in the country know Niels Giffey as a shooter. But the way they play defense, they double a lot and leave shooters open, and we're not afraid to pass the ball at all."