The Villanova Wildcats put an end to the ninth-ranked UConn Huskies’ eight-game winning streak with a 68-66 win on Wednesday night.
Villanova led 46-34 with 15:09 left in the game before a late UConn run gave the Huskies a brief lead.
The difference in the game was free-throw shooting. UConn was 2-of-4 with both misses coming from junior forward Alex Karaban with three seconds remaining. Instead of the Huskies taking a 68-67 lead, Villanova senior guard Wooga Poplar made one of his two free throw attempts before Karaban failed to get this heave from beyond half-court to go as time expired.
Villanova made 12 of its 13 free throws. Senior forward Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer (25.9 PPG) led the way again with 23 points for a Wildcats team that shot 43.6% from the floor.
Four of UConn’s five starters scored in double figures. Sophomore guard Solo Ball scored a team-high 16 points (6-of-14 FG). Ball hit four of the team’s 10 threes, including this one from the corner that put the Huskies in the lead with less than nine minutes to play.
Despite UConn outrebounding Villanova 32-23, the Huskies suffered their first conference loss of the season. UConn (12-4, 4-1 Big East) will try to rebound at Georgetown on Saturday.
After a 3-4 start to the season, Villanova (11-5, 4-1 Big East) has won eight of its last nine games. The Wildcats will try to keep the momentum rolling with a neutral site game at Madison Square Garden against St. John’s on Saturday and a road game at Xavier on Tuesday.
