VILLANOVA, Pa. — Eric Dixon scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half and Villanova secured 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 straight since losing all three games at the Maui Invitational in November.

The Huskies played without star freshman Liam McNeeley, who was sidelined with a right foot injury.

UConn had several chances to take a late lead, the most recent when Karaban was wide on both free throw attempts after being fouled by Jordan Longino. Karaban finished with 10 points.

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

Takeaways

UConn: It was unlikely the Huskies would go undefeated in the Big East, especially without McNeeley. 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 back in the conversation.

Key moment

The game ended in a tie when Poplar hit a 3 with just under five minutes to play, giving Villanova the lead for good.

Key statistics

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

Next

UConn: At Georgetown on Saturday.

Villanova: Saturday night at St. John’s.

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