Old friends Sosa, Walker reunite at Freedom Hall

Louisville, Ky. - As the final buzzer sounded Monday, UConn's Kemba Walker and Louisville's Edgar Sosa embraced and spoke briefly.

Two close New York City friends and former Rice High School teammates reunited at Freedom Hall.

"That's just friendly love," Walker said of the postgame hug. "I told him he played a hell of game."

Sosa walked away with bragging rights, leading Louisville past UConn, 82-69. He finished with a team-high 15 points and a season-best eight assists. His ability to penetrate broke down UConn's defense and led to open shots for his teammates.

Walker had 15 points, three assists and four turnovers while playing all 40 minutes.

The two point guards staged a duel at one point late in the first half. Walker hit a driving layup and Sosa answered with one of his own. Walker scored off a fast break, then Sosa drew a foul from Walker.

"It was fun," Walker said. "It's always good to play against high school teammates. I've been playing behind him all my life, so for me to go against him was great."

During their days at Rice in New York City, Walker served as a backup to Sosa, waiting his turn to start.

Walker considers Sosa and Villanova's Corey Fisher, another New York City friend, two of his biggest influences.

Sosa spoke fondly of Walker when asked about their relationship earlier this season.

"He's like my little brother," Sosa said. "When I was a senior at Rice, he was a sophomore. We've always kept in contact."

Bench contribution

• Foul trouble forced UConn and Louisville to play reserves for long stretches. The Cardinals' reserves had a decisive edge, outscoring their counterparts 27-14.

Senior Gavin Edwards accounted for 13 points for UConn.

"We didn't get any scoring from our bench," associate head coach George Blaney said. "You can't say Gavin is a bench player. He plays 37 minutes. Literally, we got one point from the bench. That can't be."

Freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel continues to struggle. Since scoring 11 points against Georgetown on Jan. 9, Coombs-McDaniel has had a total of seven points in the last seven games.

He missed all four field goal attempts in a scoreless 19 minutes.

"I feel terrible," Coombs-McDaniel said. "I feel like I'm hurting the team right now."

Three-point barrage

• UConn continually lost Louisville's perimeter players and paid dearly. The Cardinals converted 10-of-22 3-pointers. Seven players accounted for Louisville's first seven shots beyond the arc.

"That's great," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "And they were all good shots and good ball movement."

UConn made just 4-of-13 from 3-point land.

News and notes

• UConn dropped out of The Associated Press' Top 25 poll after losses to Marquette and Providence last week. … Louisville will open a new $238 million downtown arena late next fall. It will seat 22,000 and hold 71 private suites and 62 loge boxes. There's a Cardinal Countdown sign near the construction site counting down the days, hours and minutes until opening. … UConn is 1-5 versus RPI top 50 foes. … Scoring 14 points, senior Stanley Robinson extended his consecutive game double-figure scoring streak to 28. Ray Allen holds the school mark with 67 games.