Shabazz Napier channeling Kemba Walker in leading No. 7 UConn to Sweet 16

The comparison is perhaps too easy to make.

When Kemba Walker led the Connecticut Huskies on an improbable run to the 2011 NCAA National Championship, Shabazz Napier was just a freshman, playing a smaller role behind Walker off the bench. He clearly picked some things up.

That season, UConn was an afterthought until the Big East tournament, when a then-21-9 squad unexpectedly railed off five straight victories for the conference crown, toppling four top-25 teams on their way. It was enough to earn them a three-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they were able to keep their momentum rolling into the big dance.

Led by Walker, who averaged 23.5 points, 5.7 assists and six rebounds in six tournament games, Connecticut rolled to the title, taking out Bucknell, Cincinnati, San Diego State, Arizona, Kentucky and Cinderella Butler.

Walker was subsequently selected ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats, while two other players from that team - Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi - went on to be drafted in later years.

Through two tournament games this year, Napier appears committed to replicating Walker's historic run. First, there were his 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a Round of 64 game against No. 10 Saint Joseph's, production that came on shaky 7-of-22 shooting.

On Saturday, however, Napier pitched the basketball equivalent of a perfect game. He put the Huskies on his back, shooting 9-of-13 for 25 points against No. 2 Villanova, more or less single-handedly leading them to a 77-65 victory. He scored 21 points in the second half alone, hitting triple after triple to build a lead the Wildcats couldn't chip away at.

Needless to say, the performance caught the attention of many.

While Napier's performance has come over just two games and doesn't include a ridiculous conference tournament like Walker's (Napier averaged 14 points over three AAC tournament games), the team's path to this point is similar.

The hole Walker left was a tough one to fill, with the Huskies earning just a nine-seed in 2012 and bowing out in the first round, only to miss the tournament entirely in 2013. Few expected noise from Kevin Ollie's squad this month, but the senior guard clearly wants to go down swinging.

And Napier's tun may not end in the next round. In the Sweet 16, UConn will draw a flawed opponent in any case, playing the winner of Sunday's game between No. 3 Iowa State and No. 6 North Carolina. Iowa State is now without sophomore forward Georges Niang, and UNC has been just as frustrating as the Huskies in their inconsistency this season. UConn will also basically be playing at home at Madison Square Garden in the next round.

Napier is not destined for the NBA lottery or probably even an assured role at the next level. Draft Express has him going 59th overall, and ESPN's Chad Ford suggests that Napier's stature - he's lucky to be listed at 6-feet tall and 170 pounds - and tweener-guard game could see him go undrafted.

That hardly matters, though. Like Walker before him, Napier has strapped an entire team to his back, dragging them further than anyone thought they had any right to go. And the run's not done yet.

"It’s crazy how life works out sometimes," Napier said after the win.

It's also crazy how history repeats itself.