No. 12 Villanova simply too much to handle for No. 17 UConn
Philadelphia — UConn, a defensive-minded team that prides itself on making life uncomfortable for an opponent, did anything but that on Saturday.
In fact, No. 12 Villanova scored just about any time it needed a basket.
The normally perimeter-oriented Wildcats dominated inside, hit a high percentage of their 3-pointers and converted all but one foul shot out of 22 attempts. They were the better, tougher and more physical team on the Wells Fargo Center court.
And they won more than their share of one-on-one battles.
Add all that up and No. 17 UConn suffered its fifth straight loss in the series, allowing a season-high for field goal percentage (59.2 percent) while falling 85-74 a Big East matchup between Top 25 programs.
It was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Huskies (15-6, 6-4).
It's a troubling way to start a difficult stretch of three straight games against ranked teams.
"We can't let this loss linger," coach Dan Hurley said. "Villanova is a top program. We didn't guard worth a (expletive) and they outclassed us on their offensive end of the court. ... They were more physically strong than us and played with more force.
"We've got a good team and we lost a game on the road where they just kicked our ass."
UConn trailed by 11 at the break and by as many as 23 in the second half before mounting a comeback that came up well short against the Wildcat (17-6, 10-3).
As far as any positives, the Huskies finally snapped out of their offensive funk after averaging just 56 points in the previous two games. They converted 50 percent from the field.
But they didn't play to their identity. They looked nothing like the Big East's leader in field goal percentage defense (38.5)
"We did pretty well on offense," senior Tyrese Martin said. "It was the defense; We couldn't get a stop or guard anybody individually, and that's what this team is based around, defense and rebounding. And we didn't do that."
UConn did a poor job containing 6-foot-8, 255-pound redshirt sophomore forward Eric Dixon, who muscled his way to a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. He came in averaging 9.1 points. Star guard Collin Gillespie did his damage from the
perimeter, scoring 19 points before leaving the game with about seven minutes left with an ankle injury.
R.J. Cole led the Huskies with 25 points, 16 in the second half, while Martin and Adama Sanogo finished with 14 apiece.
Entering Saturday, UConn had a great opportunity to show it belonged in the Big East regular-season title conversation.
The Huskies also got a break when Villanova's second leading scorer Justin Moore sat out with an ankle injury.
But the Wildcats didn't miss Moore's 15.1 points per game. They attacked inside early and often and finished with a 46-30 edge in points in the paint.
When both Sanogo and fellow starting forward Isaiah Whaley went to the bench after each picking up two quick fouls within the first five minutes, the Huskies looked like a different team on both ends of the court, and not in a good way.
Hurley tried having 6-10 Samson Johnson, a 205-pound freshman, guard Dixon, but it was a mismatch. Johnson, who appeared in just his 10th game, saw limited action because reserve forward Akok Akok sat out with a foot sprain.
"We lost a little bit of momentum there," Hurley said. "When (Sanogo and Whaley) got back in the game, we were a little bit out of sorts."
The Huskies went cold after taking an 8-5 edge, going without a field goal for about six minutes. They had almost as many turnovers (seven) as field goals (eight) in the first half and only trailed by 11, 40-29, because of Cole's half-court buzzer-beater.
The Good Huskies showed up to start the second, as Sanogo and Cole combined for their team's first 11 points to cut the gap to 47-40.
But the Bad Huskies soon returned, as they committed back-to-back turnovers to help spark Villanova's 12-0 spurt.
Hurley picked up a technical foul for complaining about an offensive foul on Martin with just under 10 minutes left. Cole and Villanova's Caleb Daniels each earned a technical after a heated exchange.
The deficit gradually grew to 23 (67-44).
When Gillespie left with an injury, UConn tried to fight back but couldn't get any closer than 10.
"Tough loss," Hurley said. "We just didn't play to our identity from a defensive standpoint. Credit Villanova; They played great . ... We were soft on the backboard. We didn't look like the elite defensive team that we expect to be. Obviously, it's hard to win on the road and hard to win on the road if you don't pack your defense."