Connecticut 70, Columbia 57

[recap] [box score]

The defending national champions are on the short list of contenders for the title this year. But those high expectations count heavily on replacing Kemba Walker's leadership and production with a pair of sophomores. Shabazz Napier, who had a solid season backing up Walker at point guard as a freshman, will need to step into the lead guard role. Jeremy Lamb will need to prove that he can be as effective offensively as a number one option as he was when the opposing defense was focused primarily on Walker.

So far, so good, in those regards. Lamb had 30 points, including a dunk over the unfortunate Mark Cisco that drew the first "Send it in!" of the season from Bill Raftery. Lamb has NBA range and can spot up or shoot it off the dribble. He's very smooth off the dribble and has a good midrange game, and looked, for a night at least, like an elite offensive player.

Napier looked very comfortable running the offense, pushing the pace to one faster that I seem to remember UConn ever playing at in past seasons. He was the only Husky other than Lamb to score in double figures (he had 21). He hit a trio of early-offense three-pointers, pulling up off the dribble. I'm interested to see if Jim Calhoun approves of those types of shots, but he didn't seem to mind Friday. Napier is a good setup man who looked for his shot quite a bit against Columbia, and UConn would certainly benefit from another consistent offensive threat.