Kemba Time came with just under ten minutes left in the second half of Connecticut's third-round game against the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday night at the Verizon Center. The score was tied 45-45 when the junior from the Bronx put his head down and drove to the basket, got fouled, and earned himself two foul shots, which he converted to give UConn the lead for good, 47-45 with 9:46 to go.

After a missed jumper by Cincinnati's Cashmere Wright, Connecticut came back down the other end, and Walker nailed a three to make it 50-45. He did the same thing to make it 58-50 with 3:52 remaining. Then, with under two minutes to go in a six-point game, Walker made a steal, moved in alongside Roscoe Smith, and fed the Baltimore freshman for a jam that made the score 60-52.

That, essentially, was game over, as the Huskies held on to defeat the Bearcats 69-58 and advance to a Thursday date with San Diego State in the West Regional Semifinal in Anaheim, California.

Cincinnati got the better of the early going, taking an early 17-9 lead after an Ibrahima Thomas layup with 13:22 to go before halftime. But that was the signal for Walker to take over the proceedings, and he proceeded to do just that, scoring the next six points of the game to draw UConn within two. After a Yancy Gates three-point play made the score 20-15, sophomore Alex Oriakhi and freshman Jeremy Lamb got into the act, combining to score eight straight points to start a 16-2 run for the Huskies. 

Walker himself capped off the run, canning a three to make the score 26-22 before being the victim of an intentional foul (at least in the eyes of the officials) by Cincinnati's Justin Jackson, who fouled Walker hard in an attempt to stop a breakaway dunk. Walker made the two foul shots and on the ensuing Connecticut possession, senior Charles Okwandu nailed his only field goal of the half to make the score 30-22. Cincinnatil recovered themselves well, and cut their deficit to 30-26, but Lamb and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel popped up with a three-pointer apiece to make the score 36-28 Huskies at the break.