By Mark Gallagher
Collin Gillespie had 20 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 10 Villanova to a 68-60 victory over UConn.
Justin Moore 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).
Villanova was coming off its worst defensive performance of the season in last Saturday’s loss at Creighton, a game in which the Wildcats gave up a season-worst 86 points while allowing the Bluejays to shoot 59% from the field. That defeat dropped the Wildcats five spots in the Associated Press Top 25.
The Wildcats held UConn’s star James Bouknight to seven points in the second half as the Huskies shot 30% (8 for 27) from the field and committed seven turnovers. It took until 34.7 seconds remained for Bouknight to make a second-half field goal. He scored 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.
And the advantage hit double digits, 57-47 with 4:25 left, on Moore’s dunk after an assist from Gillespie.
When the Huskies got close, Villanova always had an answer.
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.
