UConn was 6-7 in games decided by five or fewer points last season. The No. 2 Huskies entered Saturday’s matinee against Villanova 6-1 in those outings this time around.
They pulled out another thriller versus an upset-minded Wildcats team that forced an extra frame. UConn (19-1, 9-0 Big East) scored the final eight points in overtime, fending off Villanova 75-67 at Storrs’ Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
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Dan Hurley’s crew did so despite losing sharpshooting freshman Braylon Mullins to injury. Early in the second half, Mullins took an elbow to the head and didn’t return to the back-and-forth affair.
UConn got 24 points from junior guard Solo Ball, his second most in a game this season. Ball accounted for five of the Huskies’ eight 3s, including one with 2:08 left in OT.
Ball scored 14 of his points in the second half and overtime. Even more so, senior forward Alex Karaban came on late for UConn. He went 0 of 5 from the field in the first half and then supplied 17 points the rest of the way. The veteran hit four free throws during the Huskies’ game-ending 8-0 run.
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Villanova (15-5, 6-3), meanwhile, was led by Tyler Perkins, who stacked 16 points and 10 rebounds. Down the stretch of the second half, the 6-foot-4, 212-pound guard played bigger than his size in the paint. Over a four-and-a-half-minute span, he scored eight of Villanova’s 10 points.
The Wildcats wouldn’t have given the Huskies as big of a scare without Duke Brennan. The Grand Canyon transfer forward logged his eighth double-double of the season, pairing 16 points with 14 rebounds. Of his 14 boards, seven came on the offensive glass. And, despite coming in as a 55.3% free-throw shooter, he made 8-of-9 attempts from the charity stripe.
Brennan caused a tie-up that set the stage for a go-ahead Matt Hodge 3, his fourth of the day, with 1:06 to go in regulation. But a tip-in from center Tarris Reed Jr. knotted things up at 61-61.
That was the score heading into overtime, which began with Perkins knocking down a triple but ended with UConn pulling away for its latest triumph.
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The turning point came when junior guard Silas Demary Jr. hit the deck for a steal with 3:35 left in the extra frame. He kept his head up and found Reed streaking down the court. The big man deposited a dunk that put UConn’s wheels in motion.
The Huskies are 9-0 in Big East competition, in part because of their brilliance in the clutch this season.
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