John Fanta
College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter
No coach has been discussed more nationally as of late than Dan Hurley. On Saturday night, the Connecticut head coach and his team sent a message to the rest of the country that the goal of a three-peat shouldn’t be written off.
UConn made a statement with a 77-69 win at Marquette, marking the Huskies’ ninth consecutive win against a top-10 opponent. It was a blitz of a start by the Huskies, who opened up a 42-20 lead late in the first half and held off a furious second-half surge by the Golden Eagles, handing Shaka Smart’s team its second conference loss.
For a UConn team that struggled with last-place DePaul on Wednesday and was still without freshman standout Liam McNeeley (ankle) Saturday night, this was a resounding Quad 1 victory, their fourth of the season, putting the Huskies at 16-6 overall and 8-3 in the Big East.
The Huskies’ victory over Marquette provided some assistance to St. John’s, as Rick Pitino’s team now stands alone at the top of the league at 10-1 with a one-game lead.
Here are three takeaways from a mammoth win for UConn:
No. 25 UConn Huskies vs. No. 9 Marquette Golden Eagles Highlights
Solo Ball continues to show he’s one of America’s best sophomores.
We identified the sophomore class as being key to UConn’s success if the Huskies were going to pursue another Big East and national title. Ball has been far-and-away the best of the second-year players for Hurley, as the 6-foot-3 guard delivered plenty of big-time shots on Saturday. Ball has one of the best pure jump shots in America, shooting 44% from downtown this season, which ranks fourth in the Big East. He delivered 25 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday, marking his second double-double in the last three games and knocking down a career-high seven triples.
With less than two minutes to play and Marquette within six, Ball delivered the silencing dagger in Milwaukee. For a UConn team that is outside the top 100 defensively, having a lead shot-maker from downtown is necessary against elite teams, and Ball finished 7-for-9 from beyond the arc. This will be known as The Solo Ball Game in Milwaukee.
The Huskies won relatively comfortably despite committing 25 turnovers.
If you had told me that UConn would turn the ball over 25 times on Saturday night, I would have asked how much Marquette won by. Instead, the Huskies held the Golden Eagles in check offensively and made All-American candidate Kam Jones work for what he got, as the senior needed 20 shots to score 22 points. With Stevie Mitchell going 3-for-10 and the Golden Eagles shooting just over 31% from 3-point range, credit belongs to UConn for holding a top-30 offense to under 70 points on their home floor and for being the aggressor in this win. Jayden Ross didn’t do much on offense, but his physicality and 27 minutes shouldn’t be ignored. And Alex Karaban played all 40 minutes and scored 15.
The Huskies were desperate for a win after losing at Xavier last weekend, and it showed. This could end up being the turning point of Connecticut’s season.
The Huskies can still win the Big East and have navigated a major injury very well, all things considered.
Connecticut currently sits in fourth place in the Big East at 8-3, but that could change quite a bit this week. Marquette plays at St. John’s on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET on FS1) before the Red Storm (19-3, 10-1) visit the Huskies on Friday night (8 p.m. ET on FOX).
For the Huskies to go 5-3 in eight games without McNeeley, who was as important a piece to their puzzle as any before he went down with an ankle injury, says a lot about this program’s culture.
It’s all in front of Connecticut in terms of a Big East regular-season crown. The Huskies have not met the Johnnies yet, and they still get Marquette at home and a road matchup against Creighton, a team that has had their number.
Here’s a look at UConn’s remaining schedule:
The Huskies showed on Saturday that despite entering the game ranked just inside the top 25, they can still be a top-10 team at their best with McNeeley coming back and elite defensive intensity. If you were thinking UConn is done or a deep March run isn’t possible, think again.
The Huskies are back.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.
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