On Jan.18, 2020, UConn coach Dan Hurley declared, “It’s coming,” after his team had lost a close game to Villanova. On Tuesday night at a packed XL Center, and in dramatic fashion, the Huskies may have finally arrived.
Seconds after Tyler Polley hit a three to cut a Villanova lead to one, R.J Cole then hit the game-winning layup with 5.9 seconds left leading to a stunning 71-69 signature win for the Huskies, and they did it without Hurley, who had been ejected in the first half.
Although UConn may have been led by Adama Sanogo’s 20 points, it was Cole and Polley who came through when it mattered most. Cole had 12 points including the clutch bucket and Isaiah Whaley had 13. The Huskies defeated Villanova for the first time since 2014.
After Cole’s layup, Villanova’s Collin Gillespie was called for an offensive foul with one second left. On the next possession, Andre Jackson was fouled and made one free throw to clinch the game.
Hurley was ejected with 4:53 left in the first half after being assessed double technicals and associate head coach Kimani Young took over.
By the 13:22 mark in the first half, Sanogo had scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting from the field.
The game plan for the Wildcats was to deny him the ball by any way possible and if he gets it, throw everything at him to make shots difficult. Every time Sanogo got the ball, he was patient, backing down in the post and waiting to make the right move to free up space, leading to easy shots. He had 10 points and shot 5-for-8 from the field in the first half.
The No. 21 Huskies (20-7, 11-5 Big East) now hold sole possession of the third place in the conference behind Providence and Villanova. The No. 8 Wildcats (21-7, 14-4) remain in second place in the conference. UConn has three games remaining before the Big East tournament on March 9-12 at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies started the game shooting 5-for-6 from the field and quickly surged to a 12-6 lead by the 16:12 mark. Both teams made their shots early, with UConn leading 20-19 when a media timeout was taken at 09:50. The Wildcats took their first lead of the game after UConn’s Jalen Gaffney fouled Justin Moore on post-shot and he drained one of two free throws to put them up 23-22.
Late in the first half, Hurley was assessed a technical. He then turned around and hyped up the crowd, given a second technical, and was ejected.
Gillespie made the first free throw and missed the second and the Wildcats collected the offensive rebound that led to a Jermaine Samuels 3 that put them up 29-24. The Huskies answered with a 5-0 run of their own to tie it up, 29-29.
At 3:01, a double technical was assessed to Jackson and the Wildcats’ Moore. UConn did a great job of limiting mistakes with just one turnover. While the Wildcats shot well, 11-for-22 from the field, the Huskies’ defense made it difficult for them by giving players no space to get shots off and forced eight Wildcats’ turnovers. UConn went into the half with a 33-32 lead.
After Eric Dixon drained both free throws after getting fouled by Cole, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run fueled by two back-to-back Tyrese Martin 3s to put them up 39-34. After Samuels fouled Sanogo, he made both free throws to put UConn up 51-47. With UConn up by one, Sanogo passed to Polley in the corner, who hit the 3 to put them 54-40. At 07:55, Gillespie hit a 3 to put his team up 56-54. Jackson collected the rebound off a Wildcats miss and passed to Polley to put the Huskies 59-56 with 06:31 left.
Every time UConn would make a run, Villanova would answer with one of its own. Samuels hit a 3 to put the Wildcats up 65-61 with 02:56 left. An offensive foul was called on Gillespie which gave UConn the ball with them down two, 65-63. Sanogo was fouled on the next possession, giving him a one-and-one opportunity, he made both free throws to tie it, 65-65. Sanogo fouled Villanova’s Brandon Slater who made both free throws to put them up 69-65 with 46 seconds left in the game. On the next play, the pass bounced off his knee and went out of bounds. With 21 seconds left, Polley drained a 3 to cut the Villanova lead to 69-68. On the next possession, they crowded Gillespie and forced a jump ball.
