Villanova’s Collin Gillespie (2) goes up for a shot against Connecticut’s Jalen Gaffney (0), Akok Akok (11) and James Bouknight (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, in Villanova, Pa.
Collin Gillespie scored 20 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the No. 10 Wildcats to a 68-60 victory over UConn on Saturday.
Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels each added 11 points for the Wildcats (14-3, 9-2 Big East), who clamped down defensively in the second half.
James Bouknight, in his second game back after missing eight due to elbow surgery, scored 21 points for the Huskies (10-6, 7-6).
The Wildcats held UConn’s star, Bouknight, to seven points in the second half as the Huskies shot 30% (8 for 27) from the field and committed seven turnovers after halftime. It took until 34.7 seconds remained for Bouknight to make a second-half field goal.
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“They did a good job of loading up on whoever had the ball and trying to make plays,” Bouknight said. “They’re a very good team defensively. We were just a step slow, and we made too many mistakes.”
A projected first-round NBA draft pick this year, Bouknight had 18 points in 24 minutes in Tuesday’s 73-61 win over Providence in his return. He came out hot, scoring nine of UConn’s first 12 points and ended up with 14 in a competitive opening 20 minutes that ended with the Wildcats ahead 34-32.
The Huskies went up 42-41 on Adama Sanogo’s basket from close range with 14:06 left. Villanova answered with 12 of the next 15 points, taking its biggest lead, 53-45, on Robinson-Earl’s elbow jumper with 7:42 to play.
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BACK IN THE BIG EAST
The teams renewed their Big East rivalry. A charter member of the conference in 1979-80, UConn spent the last seven seasons competing in the American Athletic Conference.
While the Huskies were gone, Villanova dominated the conference and rose to a consistent national championship contender. The Wildcats claimed six regular-season conference titles over those seven seasons while capturing NCAA titles in 2016 and 2018.
UConn, which shares the Big East record with Georgetown for conference tournament titles with seven, dropped off its usual level among college basketball’s elite.
THIRD TIME’S A CHARM
The teams also were supposed to meet in Storrs, Connecticut, in January, but twice had games postponed due to COVID-19 issues.
BIG PICTURE
UConn: The Huskies are on the NCAA bubble but are in a good position to get a first-round bye in the Big East tournament, which goes to the top five teams in the league standings. UConn entered fourth in the conference, two games ahead of sixth-place Xavier, with four scheduled conference games remaining.
Villanova: The Wildcats are primed for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Wright knows they’ll have to play better. They have four regular-season games remaining to get to the level Wright would like to see.
UP NEXT
UConn: At Georgetown on Tuesday night.
Villanova: Hosts St. John’s on Tuesday night. The Wildcats lost 70-59 at St. John’s on Feb. 3.
