Villanova puts up a fight but falls to No. 2 UConn, 74-66

HARTFORD, Conn. — This one was circled on Villanova’s schedule for the last few weeks.

How far had the Wildcats come since their slow start? No. 2 Connecticut was a perfect test. And while the Wildcats hung tough, the deeper, more balanced Huskies prevailed in a 74-66 win Wednesday night at XL Center.

The loss snapped a five-game Villanova winning streak.

Villanova (7-6, 1-2 Big East) was led by its veterans. Caleb Daniels scored 23 points, Eric Dixon added 18, and Brandon Slater tallied 10.

UConn (14-0, 3-0) was paced by Jordan Hawkins’ 22 points. He made four three-pointers. Alex Karaban was the Huskies’ X factor, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds.

Villanova held UConn big man Adama Sanogo, the preseason Big East player of the year, off the board for much of the night. He finished with seven points.

“They have multiple guys who can beat you,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “To their credit, they probably didn’t play their best game offensively. I thought our defense was really good at times and they just found a way.”

This game was begging for a run, and UConn delivered one early in the second half. It was started by Sanogo, who hit a hook in the paint to give the Huskies a 43-39 lead. Then a little theme arose: Villanova turned it over on the inbounds pass and a Huskies possession ended with a Karaban putback.

Sanogo picked up his third foul, but it didn’t slow UConn down. His backup, 7-foot-2 freshman Donovan Clingan, made layups on consecutive possessions to put the Huskies up 49-39. The 8-0 run gave UConn separation, and Villanova couldn’t close the gap down the stretch.

“They got into us with their pressure defense, full court,” Neptune said. “Just had a couple mishaps. I thought we still had a chance to fight back. It just wasn’t enough.”

It was a five-point deficit when Daniels hit a tough shot in the lane, forcing a UConn timeout with 4 minutes, 8 seconds to go. Daniels then converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to two with 3:36 left.

But the Huskies made the winning plays in the end. Sanogo made a tough basket at the rim before Andre Jackson drilled a three-pointer to put UConn back up by seven.

Daniels scored 15 of his 23 in the second half and almost willed the Wildcats to a win.

“We’re battle tested,” Daniels said. “We don’t give in. We’re very resilient. We still have to go back to the drawing board to see what we can do better next time out.”

This matchup usually has its share of theatrics. This one had a few in the first half. The first came with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the half. Slater, at the end of the shot clock, raised up for a three-pointer with Sanogo guarding.

The UConn big man was whistled for what appeared to be a questionable foul, his second in the half, leaving Huskies coach Dan Hurley steaming. Hurley, who was ejected from a Villanova-UConn game last season, did not get a technical foul.

A few minutes later, Jackson drilled a three from the wing in front of Villanova’s bench and appeared to say something to Neptune. Jackson was hit with a technical foul.

Villanova failed to take full advantage of Sanogo being on the bench for the last eight minutes of the first half.

UConn led 33-32 at the break after what was at times an ugly first half. Big East basketball tends to be that way sometimes.

The Huskies missed 14 of 20 attempts from three-point range in the opening half, while Villanova shot just 1 of 8.

Dixon, Slater and Daniels, Villanova’s veterans, kept the Wildcats in the game. Freshmen Mark Armstrong and Cam Whitmore struggled to make an impact.

UConn won the turnover battle, 18-11, and outscored Villanova, 21-9, off of turnovers.

The Wildcats shot just 5 of 22 from deep on the night.

“I thought they really made it tough defensively,” Neptune said. “They made it a tough and nasty game.”

Villanova continues its Big East schedule with a New Year’s Eve matinee Saturday vs. Marquette at Finneran Pavilion (2 p.m., FS1).