Villanova 68-66 UConn (January 8, 2025) Game Recap

On January 9, 2025By Littum

VILLANOVA, Pa. — — Eric Dixon scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half and Villanova held on for a 68-66 victory over No. 9 UConn on Wednesday night after the Huskies’ Alex Karaban missed two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

Wooga Poplar added 18 points for Villanova (11-5, 4-1 Big East), which led by as many as 12 points in the second half.

Solo Ball scored 16 points to lead UConn (12-4, 4-1). The Huskies had won eight in a row since dropping all three games in the Maui Invitational in November.

The Huskies played without freshman star Liam McNeely, out with a right foot injury.

UConn had several chances to take the lead late, the last when Karaban went long on both free throw attempts after being fouled by Jordan Longino. Karaban finished with 10 points.

The teams played on Villanova’s campus in front of fans for the first time since January 5, 1995. They met at Villanova’s Pavilion on February 20, 2021 without fans during the pandemic. Usually, the game is played at the home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.

Takeaways

UConn: The Huskies weren’t likely to go undefeated in the Big East, especially without McNeelley. UConn is still the class of the conference.

Villanova: After missing the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons under coach Kyle Neptune, the Wildcats are right back in the conversation.

Key moment

The game was tied at 59 when Poplar hit a 3 with just under five minutes left to put Villanova ahead for good.

Key state

Dixon shot 12.5% in the first half as he missed 7 of 8 field goals. Dixon came in shooting 53.4% from the field and led the nation in scoring at 25.9 points per game. match. Dixon’s teammates shot 57.1% (12 of 21) in the first 20 minutes.

UConn: At Georgetown on Saturday.

Villanova: At St. John’s Saturday night.

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