Notes & Quotes: How UConn stayed ahead of Xavier

UConn ended its two-game road trip with another solid win, beating Xavier at the Cintas Center Wednesday night, 80-75. Five Huskies scored in double figures in a game where they were ahead for 37 out of 40 minutes.

Early on, UConn looked like it was about to blow them out. The Huskies jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first four minutes as they hit four of their first five three-point attempts. In a team huddle seen on the broadcast, Xavier head coach Sean Miller said it looked like Alex Karaban was about to score 50.

The Husky shots kept falling, but the Musketeers kept fighting. They were winning in the paint, outrebounding the Huskies and scoring more down low early on. But UConn was hitting over half its shots from the field and behind the arc in the first half.

The visitors led by as much as 10 in the first half, but Xavier pushed to tie it up just after the three-minute mark. UConn responded by scoring seven straight and took a four-point lead into the break.

Early in the second half, Xavier held a brief lead at 52-51. But Tristen Newton and Hassan Diarra sparked a 10-0 run that essentially put the game away. The Huskies were up 14 with 5:39 remaining and held on to win despite some silly late turnovers and bad free-throw shooting.

“They broke it open in the second half,” Miller said post-game. “Everybody felt it, our fans, their bench, everybody. Their pace on missed shots is as good as I’ve seen.”

Xavier’s Quincy Olivari described Dan Hurley’s squad as “on another level.”

Imagine what they’d think if they faced a fully healthy UConn, complete with starting center Donovan Clingan.

The Huskies are 4-0 without the big man but his absence is certainly felt. This was their first game with a significant rebounding deficit, but the last four games have seen some of UConn’s worst rebounding percentages of the season.

Nevertheless, Hurley and his staff are coaching their tails off during this stretch. We’ve seen interesting lineup wrinkles and some guys developing that will certainly be better off for it.

Ultimately, the team has good leaders, strong character, and enough talent that even an injury to a key starter is not slowing it down much.

“We got a lot of contributions from everyone tonight,” Cam Spencer, who scored a team-high 19 points, said after the game. “Credit to the coaches, because they put us in positions to be successful. We have unselfish guys on the team who really share the ball.”

After this road trip, UConn has confirmed what we’ve long suspected: This team is for real.

“I think we responded like a program that has won and believes that we’re supposed to win, even games like this, on the road in one of the toughest places to play versus one of the best coaches and a team desperate to win, and our own lineup issues…

“We stayed composed.”

Here’s a closer look at last night’s game and what the coaches and players had to say about it.