University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Seton Hall
Huskies Advance To BIG EAST Semifinals
3/11/2022 12:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Stop Seton Hall, 62-52
NEW YORK -- With its offense struggling to score, the UConn men's basketball team turned to its defense to get through the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals.
As it turns out, the Huskies' defense was more than ready to meet the challenge.
UConn held Seton Hall to 35.7 percent shooting and its lowest point total of the season as the Huskies secured a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals with a 62-52 triumph Thursday night before 19,812 at Madison Square Garden.
The win advances the third-seeded Huskies (23-8) to Friday's semifinal game against No. 2-seed Villanova at 9 p.m. (FS1). The winner of that game will face the winner of the Providence-Creighton contest on Saturday night for the BIG EAST Championship.
UConn guards R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin each scored 17 points for the Huskies, who never trailed after breaking a 4-4 tie in the opening minutes. But it was Martin's defense on Seton Hall guard Jared Rhoden, holding the Pirates leading scorer to just 7 points on 2 of 13 shooting that keyed the victory -- which was on the 11th anniversary of Kemba Walker's famous step-back jumper that scuttled Pittsburgh and sent the 2011 Huskies on their way to their last BIG EAST crown.
This win wasn't as dramatic, and it didn't have to be.
Cole, a first-team all-conference selection, kept the Huskies' hopes for another conference tournament championship alive with a series of big plays in the second half.
Cole hit a 3 to make it 32-20 and surely tried to give UConn a highlight to remember. He cut off a Seton Hall run with a mid-range jumper that kept the lead at 11 and kept the Huskies' run rolling on no-look pass to Andre Jackson under the basket for a dunk and a 38-27 lead.
Myles Cale led Seton Hall (21-10) with 17 points. The sixth-seeded Pirates snapped a six-game winning streak.
Both teams shot 36 percent from the floor.
UConn built a 17-7 lead in the opening 9:00 of the game and kept the defensive pressure on, limiting Seton Hall to just 18 first-half points. The Huskies widened the gap to 49-33 with 9:00 remaining in the game, and the Pirates never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
BIG PICTURE
Seton Hall: The Pirates, who beat Georgetown in the Big East tourney opener, now wait to find out where they go as an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament. Seton Hall's six-game winning streak had matched its longest of the season.
UConn: Tries to keep alive for its eighth Big East Tournament championship.
