National Basketball Association
Connecticut 78, Villanova 54
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 24, 2024
Where: Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut
Officials:
# Pat Driscoll, # Lamar Simpson, # Tim Clougherty
Attendance:
10299
By Field Level Media
Cam Spencer scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half as top-ranked UConn pulled away for a 78-54 victory over Villanova on Saturday night in Storrs, Conn.
The Huskies (25-3, 15-2 Big East) bounced back from Tuesday's 85-66 loss at No. 15 Creighton that stopped their 14-game winning streak. Looking to avoid consecutive losses for the first time since dropping three straight Jan. 11-18, 2023, UConn dominated the second half by outscoring the Wildcats 47-33 after retiring Richard Hamilton's jersey in a halftime ceremony.
Spencer matched his season-high point total set Nov. 14 against Mississippi Valley with 9-of-13 shooting from the field and five of UConn's 10 3-pointers.
Tristen Newton finished with 10 points, 10 assists and a career-high 16 rebounds, getting his fourth career triple-double when he found Alex Karaban for a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left for UConn's final points. His four triple-doubles are the most amongst active Division I players.
Stephon Castle added 14 and Donovan Clingan contributed 13 as the Huskies shot 42.9 percent and survived missing 22 of 32 3-point tries.
Eric Dixon scored 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting but Villanova (15-12, 8-8) shot 33.3 percent. TJ Bamba added 13 points, but Mark Armstrong and Justin Moore were held to a combined 15 points as Villanova shot just 3-of-24 from behind the arc and finished with its third-lowest point total of the season.
Armstrong's jumper got Villanova within 21-17 at the 5:09 mark, but a little over three minutes later, Newton's trey gave the Huskies a 29-19 lead. Newton then hit a stepback at the shot clock expired for a 31-21 lead with 46 seconds left, and the Huskies took a 10-point lead at halftime after Castle missed a layup at the horn.
Spencer's triple put the Huskies ahead 38-26 with 16:52 left in the second half, but Villanova kept hanging around and countered with an 11-4 run to get within 42-37 on Moore's turnaround jumper nearly 3 1/2 minutes later.
Villanova was within 45-40 after Bamba sank a free throw with 11:34 left. Spencer and Hassan Diarra combined for 10 points in UConn's 12-0 run that made it 57-40 with 8:47 remaining.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Villanova |
|
Connecticut |
|
Eric Dixon 20 |
Scoring |
Cam Spencer 25 |
|
Hakim Hart 2 |
Assists |
Tristen Newton 10 |
|
Eric Dixon 8 |
Rebounds |
Tristen Newton 16 |
|
Eric Dixon 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Stephon Castle 6 |
|
Mark Armstrong 2 |
Steals |
Hassan Diarra 1 |
|
TJ Bamba 2 |
Blocks |
Alex Karaban 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Villanova
|
54 |
33.3 |
3-24 |
9-13 |
6 |
28 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| Connecticut
|
78 |
42.9 |
10-32 |
20-22 |
14 |
41 |
7 |
2 |
7 |
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