UConn basketball took control of this game early and cruised past Xavier, 99-56.
It was alumni weekend in Connecticut as UConn basketball honored both the 2014 women’s team Saturday night at Gampel Pavilion and the 2004 men’s team Sunday at XL Center. Jim Calhoun, Emeka Okafor, and Ben Gordon were all in the building to watch a refreshed Huskies squad coming off a bye week. That extra few days without a game proved to be pivotal as Donovan Clingan returned to the starting lineup for the first time since December 20th at Seton Hall.
All Huskies. All Day. pic.twitter.com/R35Yk63Jta
— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) January 28, 2024
UConn opened up the game with a 10 point run and simply never looked back. A notable run in this game was a 21-7 lead at the under 12 media timeout and 38-7 with 6 minutes left in the first half. No matter what Xavier did today, UConn replied with double the effort in what ended up being their largest Big East victory since 2006. Tristen Newton contributed 22 points and Donovan Clingan added 18 points with 8 rebounds.
Takeaway #1: UConn’s best in unbeatable
It seems as though no team in the country can beat UConn basketball when the Huskies are playing their best basketball. Sunday’s win was the embodiment of that as the Huskies assisted on 28 of their 38 field goals, won the rebound battle 41 to 30, and piled up 9 steals with 6 blocks to round out the hustle stats. Perhaps the legends in attendance gave the team some extra motivation, but if you know Dan Hurley and his coaching philosophies then you know that external factors rarely impact his UConn teams.
With such a big lead, Hurley was able to experiment with some different lineups as all five freshmen saw some game action. Even Andrew Hurley and Apostolos Ramoglou got on the stat sheet with each of them making a three pointer. While Clingan’s absence with an injury was disappointing, perhaps UConn Huskies fans are starting to see the benefits as the bench roles continue to gain more and more confidence.
Takeaway #2: Xavier’s tournament hopes are on life support
The preseason injuries finally caught up to Xavier as they lost by 43 points. To be fair, going up against the number one team in the country is no easy task, but the Musketeers were embarrassed against a fellow Big East school. Some of Xavier’s highlights on Sunday included 18 points from Dayvion McKnight and 14 points from Quincy Olivari who are two players that can keep March within reach for the Musketeers if they continue to play well.
They entered Sunday’s contest ranked 40 in the NCAA NET Rankings so a road loss to UConn won’t statistically kill them as long as it doesn’t cause the team to. Don’t forget that this is a Xavier team that has key wins over Seton Hall and on the road at Providence.
Takeaway #3: UConn caught FIRE from deep
UConn basketball was lights out from behind the arc today as they shot 58.6% and tied a program record with 17 three pointers made. Typically, the Huskies three point shooting is streaky over the course of a game and is used to fuel large runs, but on Sunday afternoon their shooting was reliable for all 40 minutes of action. Everyone got involved, including the bench players, as UConn had 10 different players contribute to their record shooting day from deep including a big contribution from Solomon Ball who shot 4-for-5 from deep.
Next for UConn: vs. Providence (Wed., Jan. 31 – 8:30 p.m.)
Next for Xavier: vs. St. John’s (Wed., Jan. 31 – 6:30 p.m.)