University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
10-6,7-6Big East
Villanova
14-3,9-2Big East
Men’s Basketball Falls at No. 10 Villanova, 68-60
2/20/2021 3:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Sophomore guard James Bouknight scored 21 points and snared 10 rebounds while junior guard Tyrese Martin scored nine points and hauled in 11 boards but it was not enough as the University of Connecticut men's basketball team dropped a 68-60 decision at No. 10 Villanova on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.
With the loss, the Huskies slip to 10-6 on the year and 7-6 in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats improve to 14-3, 9-2.
"Obviously it was a tough game, tough less, credit to Villanova," head coach Dan Hurley said. "They were just really good defensively, they made far less mistakes than we did. They made some critical plays in the last eight minutes of the game where it's a one possession game and they were able to extend it to ten and take advantage of some things. Colin Gillespie's threes were huge, he was tremendous. Jermiah Robinson-Earl was tremendous, credit to those guys. Just really mature and didn't make a lot of mistakes."
Junior point guard R.J. Cole added 10 points while freshman forward Adama Sanogo chipped in with eight points in 19-minutes of action.
The first 30-minutes of this showdown was a back-and-forth affair and included eight ties and 12 lead changes.
But the Huskies went cold and made only one field goal over a 6:30 stretch, which allowed the Wildcats to increase their lead to 10 points, 57-47, with 4:25 remaining in regulation.
A late flurry by UConn cut the deficit to five points but a Gillespie shot-clock buzzer-beating three-pointer with 1:31 remaining, helped Villanova keep the Huskies at arm's length down the stretch.
UConn held Villanova to 5-22 shooting from long range but the Wildcats outscored the Huskies 30-20 in the paint and recorded seven thefts. UConn blocked six shots and outscored Villanova 11-6 on the fastbreak.
The Huskies are back in action on Tuesday, February 23 when the team travels to our nation's capital to take on Georgetown. Game time is set for 9 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on FS1.
