Revived Huskies riding a wave of confidence
No. 10 Villanova up next for No. 24 UConn at XL
STORRS — The announced crowd Saturday at Gampel Pavilion was 10,167, the second consecutive sellout in a building that the UConn men’s basketball team has used as a stage to rip through a little portion of the schedule that it needed to.
The No. 24 Huskies defeated Seton Hall Wednesday, avenging an earlier loss to the Pirates in Newark, N.J.
They defeated Xavier 72-61 Saturday, avenging an earlier loss to the Musketeers in Cincinnati.
Next they travel 25 miles or so for Tuesday’s game against No. 10 Villanova at the XL Center, looking to avenge a loss Feb. 5 in Philadelphia.
“This is the best that we’ve come in,” coach Dan Hurley said. “Our first couple of years, we didn’t have much of a chance to beat them. They were significantly better than us. They’ve played better than us. They’ve had a better season than us to this point. Now we have a chance to play them at home in front of a sellout crowd that’s going to be raucous.”
That is the next step for the Huskies (19-7, 10-5 Big East), beating Villanova to make the tippity-top of the Big East look like one threeteam tier, to send postseason expectations soaring like the decibel level in Gampel.
There were actually just 6,790 fans in attendance Wednesday for the Seton Hall game. That’s the number of tickets scanned for entry.
There were 7,373 fans in attendance Saturday.
Referee Mike Roberts tried to reduce that number to 7,372 in the second half by ejecting former UConn player James Bouknight, who was seated in the first row and had inched onto the court, chirped at officials and Xavier players, was just generally disruptive.
Bouknight first sat motionless, puzzled, arms raised in disbelief upon being ejected by Roberts. When another referee motioned for police at the other end of the building to come remove him, Bouknight and an acquaintance were led toward the tunnel by Cat Zuppani, UConn’s assistant athletic director of administration.
Then he pulled a Bobby Valentine, of sorts. First coming face to face with another UConn police officer — they did not interact — Bouknight pivoted and entered the student section, where he remained as the Huskies managed not to cough up an 18-point lead that had been trimmed to six.
“That was not an ideal scenario because we were playing bad and kind of melting down a little bit,” Hurley said. “And then he got tossed. I didn’t really see what happened. Then I saw him again somewhere near the student section. So I don’t know. I don’t want to comment on that. James is my guy. I didn’t see what happened.”
It wasn’t the greatest look. Ultimately, it was harmless and actually funny, Bouknight stepping aside from the Charlotte Hornets during the NBA All-Star break to return to campus — only to be deemed the most obnoxious fan in the building.
“It was great to see Bouk,” said Tyler Polley, who matched R.J. Cole with a game-high 16 points. “He brought energy. I respect that. I appreciate that. It is what it is when it comes to that. I don’t want to speak too much on that.”
UConn, clearly, was a little uncomfortable with the entire scene.
UConn should be equally uncomfortable with its play in the second half.
Saturday was, on the whole, a really positive day in energy and performance. Still, if the Huskies perform Tuesday the way they did down the stretch against Xavier — “casual and weak,” as Hurley accurately described it — their losing streak against the Wildcats will almost certainly reach six.
Bouknight’s episode wasn’t the only ‘oops’ moment of the afternoon. The Huskies committed 14 turnovers in the second half and it became a five-point game with just under four minutes remaining. UConn had answers, of course, often on defense, always on the glass, enough on offense.
So, yes, imperfections aside, they head into a Tuesday showdown in a good place, feeling like it can take this project to the next level by beating a team of adults who give others fits.
“You’ve got to beat them,” Hurley said, meaning he knows Villanova doesn’t beat itself. “You’ve got to play at a high level. We can’t do a number of the things we did today and beat them. But we’ve earned the right on Tuesday night to play one of the games of the night in college basketball. And a lot of effort and a lot of work over years has gone into this moment on Tuesday night and we need to go for that game.”
UConn hasn’t beaten Villanova since the 2014 NCAA Tournament and the Huskies were clobbered a couple weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Center, losing 84-75 and trailing by 23.
But Tyrese Martin, R.J. Cole and Adama Sanogo are only getting better as a trio. UConn is a physical force, averaging 14.3 offensive rebounds, which ranks third in the nation behind South Carolina State and College of Charleston. Other positives have emerged.
Polley, for instance, was 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-3 on 3pointers in UConn’s loss Feb. 11 at Xavier. He was 4-for-4 and 3-for-3 Saturday, maybe a spark that ignites something in him down the stretch. Jordan Hawkins shot just 1-for-5 Saturday but added seven points, given the UConn bench 23, and he’s now a player to roll the dice with more often.
UConn was coming off a loss to Creighton before the last meeting with Villanova. Now they’re coming off three victories in a row, adding Seton Hall and Xavier to a Super Bowl Sunday win over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
There are just four regular season games remaining. UConn’s resume is solid, probably in line today for a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They still have a lot to prove, and the opportunity to prove it, starting Tuesday.
“The same thing that went well for us in the Seton Hall and the Xavier game, playing to our identity, defense first,” point guard R.J. Cole said of what can be and should be different this time against Villanova. “We just need to tighten our game up and everything else will play itself out. Villanova is a great team. But we’re a great team, too. So we’re going to see what’s going on.”
There were more than 13,600 tickets distributed for the Villanova game by the middle of last week. The building might be sold out, it won’t quite be full, and who knows where James Bouknight will be. The Hornets don’t play again until Friday.