VILLANOVA, Pa. – The No. 9 UConn men's basketball team (12-4, 4-1 BIG EAST) erased a double-digit second-half deficit for the second-straight game before ultimately falling, 68-66, at Villanova (11-5, 4-1) on Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion. The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak and was UConn's first in five BIG EAST games.
Solo Ball led the Huskies with 16 points, all in the second half, and fellow sophomore Jaylin Stewart scored 14 for Connecticut. Hassa Diarra (11 points, nine assists) and Alex Karaban (10 points, three rebounds, four assists) also scored in double-figures for UConn.
The Huskies went to the half down seven and saw their deficit swell to 12 early in the second before storming back and retaking the lead with 8:38 to play. The Huskies shot 54.0 percent in the setback but were felled by an uncharacteristic 13 turnovers. Eric Dixon, the nation's leading scorer, led Villanova with 23 points on 20 shots and Wooga Poplar added 18.
How it Happened
Both offenses started fast, and eight early points from Stewart including a 3-pointer at 14:27 gave the Huskies a 12-8 advantage. At 9:06 UConn went back up two possessions, taking a 19-15 lead thanks to a Jayden Ross triple.
Late in the first Villanova took advantage of a UConn scoring drought to take a 25-23 lead and force a timeout at 2:51 of the opening stanza. The Wildcats would extend that edge to 32-25 at the half, holding UConn without a field goal for the final 5:11 of the first. The first half featured five ties and seven lead changes.
The Wildcats opened the second half with a 3-pointer to stretch the advantage to double-figures for the first time. VU would push the lead to the largest of the day at 46-34 ahead of the first media stoppage, but an 8-0 run capped by back-to-back triples from Karaban and Diarra cut the lead back to four at 13:12.
Midway through the second Ball drilled his third 3-pointer of the half to pull within one at 53-52 with 9:51 to play. Minutes later, Ball connected once again from downtown to give the Huskies their first lead since 23-21 when they went up 57-55 at 8:38 of the second.
The Wildcats re-took the lead with back-to-back buckets after UConn went on top and the Huskies called for time with 6:06 remaining, trailing 59-57. Ball hit a midrange jumper to tie the contest after the stop, before a Villanova 3-pointer put the Wildcats up 62-59 ahead of the final media timeout at 3:49. Another Dixon triple combined with nearly three-minute scoring drought for the Huskies allowed VU to go up six before Ball again stopped the run.
Karaban got the Huskies back within a possession inside of the final two minutes with a 3-poiinter and after a stop, Ball found Stewart inside to slim the lead to 67-66 and force a Villanova timeout with 1:07 to play. Another stop gave Connecticut the ball back with a chance to take the lead, and after its first two attempts were stuffed at the rim the Huskies inbounded under the basket with 7.2 ticks left to Karaban, who was fouled on a drive to the basket. Taking only UConn's third and fourth free throws of the game and first in over 22 minutes of game time, both attempts were off the mark and Villanova snuck out the win.
Inside the Numbers
- UConn finished 27-of-50 (54.0 percent) from the field and 10-of-27 (37.0 percent) from 3-point range while holding Villanova to 24-55 (43.6) and 8-20 (40.0)
- The Huskies assisted on all 10 of their first half field goals and finished with 23 assists on 27 field goals
- Diarra led all players with nine assists, upping his league-leading average to 8.9 per game in conference play
- Karaban and Ball both added four assists, with the four for Ball tying his season-high
- UConn only attempted four free throws, while Villanova was 11-of-11 from the stripe
- Connecticut finished with a 32-23 edge on the glass and a slim 28-26 advantage in points in the paint
- Stewart and Tarris Reed Jr. each had two blocks
News and Notes
- UConn is now 36-40 all-time against Villanova after seeing its four-game winning streak in the series come to an end
- The Huskies fall to 3-1 in true road games this season
- The trip to Villanova's campus marked UConn's first game at Finneran Pavilion with fans since 1995
- Stewart had multiple blocks in a game for the first time in his career
- Ball was UConn's leading scorer for the fourth time this season
- The Huskies fell for the first time this year when shooting 50 percent or better – they had been 6-0 in such contests
Up Next
The Huskies conclude a four-in-five stretch away from home when they visit Georgetown on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. on FOX.
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