UConn 84 Villanova 75

Now that's more like it!

The UConn Huskies (15-11, 5-8) joined the Big East upset party with a much needed win over No. 3 Villanova (22-3, 11-2) tonight in Philadelphia. Over the last four days, then-No. 5 West Virginia fell to Pitt, then-No. 7 Georgetown went down to Rutgers, and then-No. 2 Syracuse lost to Louisville.

Just two days ago, UConn delivered an embarrassing performance at home in a loss to Cincinnati. They looked like a team just waiting for their season to be over. Tonight was a different story.

Led by an absolutely spectacular game from Kemba Walker (career high 29 points, three assists, two steals, and just one turnover), UConn looked very much like the team we all expected to see this season and finally got their first road victory of the year.

• The UConn defense was active and effective, despite foul trouble for virtually every big man.
  
• The Huskies dominated the glass, out-rebounding Villanova 36-22.
• UConn shot the ball well...49 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the stripe.
• The Huskies avoided the slow start that have plagued them throughout the season. They were right with Villanova from the opening tip.
• Jamal Coombs-McDaniel finally began showing us that he might be the outside shooter the team has needed all season. He went 2-4 from deep.
• Alex Oriakhi contributed 10 points off the bench, going quick and strong to the basket.

Most importantly, from a UConn perspective, was the intensity and focus from every Husky who took the floor. Kemba repeatedly flashed that confident smile of his. Gavin Edwards was very vocal...at one point he was frantically demanded player movement in a half-court situation. It was great to see.

All was not sunny though. Stanley Robinson had a very difficult game. Stanley somehow committed the same number of turnovers as he did points...10. Ten turnovers! UConn as a team had 18 turnovers which could have been much more of an issue if not for the +14 on the boards.

I had said that UConn needed to show some heart...some pride in the program. Well, they responded. Villanova did not play poorly...this was a solid victory over a legitimate championship contender.

Five games remain. All are winnable. Does this win mean anything? No, not yet. Now we must see if the Huskies can bring the same level of focus, the same intensity, to the RAC on Saturday for the game against Rutgers. It is pretty easy to "get up" for a game against a Top 10 opponent. Will they bring it against a team with only three conference wins?

Winning out should get them squarely on the bubble, but tournament talk needs to stay on hold until we see what happens on Saturday.