New York, NY—– UConn Huskies bounced back in dominant fashion Thursday night, rolling past the Xavier Musketeers 93–68 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Tarris Reed Jr. powered UConn with 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Huskies controlled the game from the start. Solo Ball added 19 points and Alex Karaban chipped in 15 as the second-seeded Huskies improved to 28–4 on the season.
UConn quickly built a large cushion, opening up a 22-point advantage during the first half. Xavier briefly trimmed the deficit to 13 early in the second half, but the Huskies responded with another surge to put the game out of reach. Ball sealed the momentum with a three-pointer with just over five minutes remaining that extended the lead to 25.
Head coach Dan Hurley was animated on the sideline throughout the contest but remained in control after being ejected in the closing seconds of UConn’s 68–62 loss to the Marquette Golden Eagles in the regular-season finale. That defeat prevented the Huskies from sharing the conference’s regular-season title and may have affected their chances at earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Xavier entered the matchup after upsetting Marquette 89–87 in the opening round but struggled against UConn’s size and efficiency. The Huskies dominated the boards 40–28 and overwhelmed the Musketeers inside, outscoring them 42–16 in the paint while shooting 57 percent from the field.
Xavier shot just 37 percent (19-for-51) and was led by Filip Borovicanin, who scored a game-high 22 points.
With the win, UConn advances to face the Georgetown Hoyas in Friday night’s semifinal. Georgetown, the tournament’s 11th seed, continued its surprising run by defeating the Villanova Wildcats 78–64.
The other semifinal features the St. John’s Red Storm against the Seton Hall Pirates. It marks the first time since 1994 that four original Big East members will meet in the tournament’s semifinal round.
During the regular season, UConn swept its series against Georgetown, winning both meetings by narrow margins.
