The ability to make plays in a close game eluded UConn last week against St. John’s in front of a more hostile crowd than anticipated.
After the Huskies’ clutch tendencies returned Wednesday at Butler, No. 6 Connecticut attempts to remain atop of the Big East when it hosts Georgetown on Saturday night in Storrs, Conn.
UConn (23-2, 13-1 Big East) enters this weekend a half-game ahead of St. John’s, which visits Providence Saturday afternoon. In their lone conference loss, the Huskies were outscored 14-5 over the final 3:39 of an 81-72 setback to the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies have played seven conference games (and 12 contests overall) decided by 10 points or fewer. The latest was Wednesday’s 80-70 win at Butler when UConn closed things out with a 16-8 run over the final 6:49 and clinched a first-round bye in next month’s Big East tournament.
“We get everyone’s best shot, but when it got to two or four or wherever it got to there, our response was to get it to double figures and make some big shots,” UConn coach Danny Hurley said. “And any road win in conference is like worth two.”
Solo Ball scored 24 points to tie the second-highest total of his career. Ball made 8 of 14 shots after hitting 31.8% (14 of 44) in his previous four games. He also canned a season-best six 3-pointers.
“It felt good,” Ball said. “My teammates are always uplifting me. I had it going tonight, people kept finding me. Credit to my teammates. Glad I was able to hit some shots.”
Ball’s showing wasn’t the only uplifting performance. The Huskies hit at least 50% for the fourth straight game as their 50.8% showing was supported by hitting 13 of 31 3-point attempts.
Another positive development for the Huskies was an eight-turnover showing after committing 15 against St. John’s. Silas Demary Jr. bounced back from a nine-turnover night with 11 points and 10 assists versus two turnovers.
When UConn visited Georgetown on Jan. 17, it eked out a 64-62 win. The Hoyas (13-11, 5-8) shot 43.9% while suffering the fifth loss of a six-game slide.
But after a 15-point loss on Jan. 21 at Villanova, Georgetown won four straight. The Hoyas shot over 50% in the first three games of their streak and survived a 34.9% showing for an 8-point win over Creighton on Feb. 4.
Last Saturday, the Hoyas misfired on 18 of 25 3-point tries in an 80-73 home loss to Villanova.
“I thought we played hard. We didn’t have intelligence playing today,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said after his team shot 32.3% in the second half. “We did not do what we were supposed to do, from a scouting standpoint, we did not execute our way into victory. We tried to play our way into victory.”
Malik Mack scored 21 on 7-of-15 shooting and is shooting 43.9% in his past five games since a 1-of-14 showing at Villanova.
The Hoyas hope to see more efficiency from KJ Lewis, who scored 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting last Saturday. Since making 10 of 15 shots in a 26-point showing on Jan. 24 at Providence, Lewis has shot 34% (17 of 50) in his past four games.
