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The No. 6 UConn men’s basketball team used a balanced attack in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal Thursday night to blast past Xavier 93-68.
The Huskies shook off a difficult loss to Marquette last weekend with one of their best performances of the season.
Under the bright Madison Square Garden lights, UConn never trailed against the Musketeers and led by 20 points at half-time en route to the runaway victory.
It was all Huskies from the jump, as Dan Hurley’s squad improved to 28-4 overall and likely locked up at worst a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week.
Xavier fell to 15-18 with the loss, which could be season-ending.
UConn was sharp from the opening minutes, and it was clear early on that this would be a big night for senior center Tarris Reed, Jr., who had a double-double before halftime.
Reed finished the game with 17 points and an impressive 14 rebounds. He was dominant from start to finish on Thursday.
Junior guard Solo Ball led UConn’s offense with 19 points. He made four of his 10 three-point attempts and cashed all five of his free throws.
Senior forward and team captain Alex Karaban looked ready for postseason play as well. The two-time national champion finished with 15 points, shot 50% from the field and made three shots from beyond the arc.
UConn also got major bench production against the Musketeers in the quarterfinal.
Junior forward Jayden Ross scored nine points and played standout defense. He soared for an emphatic breakaway dunk late in the game that was an exclamation point on the win.
Freshman center Eric Reibe also had nine points and offered great production when Reed was on the bench.
Fifth-year guard Malachi Smith continued playing well at Madison Square Garden. A native of New York City, Smith nailed two three-pointers on Thursday.
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Xavier was led by senior forward Filip Borovicanin, who had a game-high 22 points on 50% shooting from the field. It may have been his last game with the Musketeers.
Xavier senior guard Roddie Anderson III also went out strong by adding 15 points, but senior forward Tre Carroll – a First-Team Big East selection – scored only 12 points on the night.
UConn’s drubbing of Xavier in the quarterfinal was eerily similar to the matchups between the teams earlier this season.
On Dec. 31, the Huskies won 90-67 in Cincinnati, and UConn won the Feb. 3 rematch in Hartford by a score of 92-60. Thursday night’s 93-68 final wasn’t all that different.
Following the game, Reed spoke on the importance of responding after last Saturday’s loss to Marquette.
“[It’s about] being able to learn from our losses, coming into the tournament with a chip on our shoulder, ready to dominate, and that’s what we did here tonight,” Reed said.
He credited his coaches for creating a dynamite game plan that built off the team’s success against Xavier earlier in the season. Reed listed several coaches by name, as he sang their praises.
“It was all the coaches. The coaching staff drew up a scheme, and we just followed what the coaching staff was doing,” Reed said. “I mean, [we followed] the scheme, looking at how we played them earlier and looking at how we played all season and hung our hat on the defensive end, which carried us all year.”
Next up, UConn squares off against the winner of Georgetown vs. Villanova in the semifinal on Friday night at 8 p.m. on FS1.
The Huskies were a combined 4-0 against those opponents this season.
RELATED: No. 6 UConn men draw Xavier in their Big East Tournament opener Thursday night
RELATED: Disastrous loss for No. 4 UConn men at Marquette, Hurley ejected after last-second meltdown
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Dalton Zbierski is a story desk editor and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at [email protected].
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