NCAA Tournament
UConn guard Shabazz Napier hopes to lead the Huskies past St. Joe's in the Second Round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Reuters

Hoping to continue impressive 2013-2014 seasons, the University of Connecticut and St. Joseph's University are set to meet in the Second Round of the 2014 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament. Coming off a strong performance in the Atlantic 10 Championship where they took down NCAA tournament team Virginia Commonwealth, the Hawks of St. Joe's (No. 10 seed in the East Region) will look to limit the offensive firepower of Connecticut stars Shabaaz Napier and DeAndre Daniels, who average 17.4 and 12.5 points per game respectively, but it's a task that will not come easy since Napier is one of the top players in America.

“I'm at a point where I'm successful at college basketball and people just believe, 'Oh, he puts in a lot of work,” Napier said this week. “Of course that's true, but it's definitely a lot of people putting in work around me, helping me and motivating me. I'm not Superman, I can't do things by myself. It's good to get all these awards, I won't lie to you. I think I'm happier with who I am and who I'm becoming more so than getting these awards. And I understand that the only reason I get these awards is because of who I have beside me.”

The Huskies (No. 7 seed East Region) have won five of seven but dropped the AAC Championship Game to defending National Champion Louisville 71-61. With a tough match-up against a strong St. Joe's team on the way, UConn will surely need to be on point in all areas of the game, especially against the physical play of Hawks senior forward Halil Kanacevic. A 6'8, 255-pound talent from Staten Island, New York, Kanacevic enters the tournament as one of the top rebounders in the field. Collecting 43 boards in three A-10 Tournament games, the senior continues to receive praise from head coach Phil Martelli, who referred to Kanacevic as a tremendous leader.

“He's one of the best bench players that I've ever had,” Martelli, who lead's Saint Joseph's to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in his career, said. “If you could watch him, like if you could take your eyes off the action and put a camera just on him, he's talking every play, he's encouraging on every play. He's offering suggestions. The common description is 'high basketball IQ.' Rough around the edges, but he has a really wonderful basketball IQ, and he is a tremendous, tremendous teammate. This is a team full of great teammates; he might be at the top of the list, though.”

St. Joe's will certainly need that toughness Thursday when they meet Connecticut to start what the Hawks hope turns into a memorable tournament run.

Connecticut vs. St. Joe's: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO

DATE: Thursday, March 20

TIME: 6:55pm, ET

TV COVERAGE: TBS

LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE

© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.