MBB: MBB avenges loss to Xavier in bizarre, rollercoaster matinee

STORRS - As the Connecticut Huskies’ men’s basketball program paid tribute to its past, the modern group put up a thrilling win on Saturday as the twilight of the Big East’s regular season approaches.

R.J. Cole led the way with 16 points, a tally matched by Tyler Polley’s perfect afternoon off the bench. Their efforts and more helped guide UConn (19-7, 10-5 Big East) to a 72-61 victory over the Xavier Musketeers at Gampel Pavilion. The win afforded the Huskies revenge after a six-point loss in Cincinnati eight days prior and came in the midst of the Huskies’ celebration of Harrison “Honey” Fitch: the first African-American player in program history became the latest inductee into the Huskies of Honor program, the 27th men’s representative to receive the tribute.

R.J. Cole led the way with 16 points for the Huskies, a tally matched by Tyler Polley’s perfect night off the bench (4-of-4 including 3-of-3 from three-point range). Polley, who had shot 2-of-14 in the three games immediately preceding Saturday, reached double figures for the first time since Jan. 18 against Butler.

A sellout Storrs crowd was treated to a conference thriller, one that saw UConn hang on to win after building a 17-point halftime lead. An 18-4 run over the final six-plus minutes of the opening frame appeared to put the Huskies well on pace for a comfortable victory, a trek headlined by seven straight points for Adama Sanogo (whose 15-point effort fell one rebound short of another double-double). UConn went into the halftime break one point short of its largest of the afternoon at 44-27.

An uncanny opening to the second half, however, awaited the Huskies, keeping them on their toes against an increasingly desperate Xavier team trying to stem the bleeding of a cold streak with Selection Sunday looming. Not only did they turn the ball over ten times over the first seven minutes of the latter frame, but they also saw visiting alum James Bouknight ejected from his courtside seat by officials. While Bouknight, currently of the Charlotte Hornets, solved his issue by slinking into the student section, his former compatriots saw their healthy lead trimmed to four shortly before the midway mark.

A quick 7-0 run that took just under 90 seconds, however, stifled any thoughts of a comeback. Cole jumpers sandwiched a Jordan Hawkins triple to rebuild the double-figure advantage and Xavier (17-9, 7-8 Big East) never got closer than five points after that. UConn’s sizable rebounding advantage (crushing their guests 42-26 with 11 of those boards hauled down by Tyrese Martin. With relative normalcy secure, the Huskies remain undefeated at their on-campus home of Gampel Pavilion, improving to 7-0 in Storrs this season.

UConn moved back into third place in the Big East standings again over Creighton, who continues to have both the head-to-head tiebreaker and a game in hand before they reunite on March 2 in Omaha. On the losing side, Xavier (paced by 15 points off the bench and an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double from Zach Freemantle) continues to plummet in the Big East standings after losing four of their past five the lone win being the aforementioned win over Connecticut at Cintas Center. The Musketeers are currently on the wrong end of a three-way tie for the fifth and final first-round bye in Manhattan’s conference tournament, stationed in the seventh seed behind Seton Hall and St. John’s.

The Husky homestand concludes in Hartford on Tuesday night with a visit from No. 10 Villanova (8 p.m. ET, FS1). Both sides are poised to move up in the upcoming Associated Press rankings after strong weeks, as the Wildcats (21-6, 14-3 Big East) followed up a road win over No. 8 Providence with a 74-66 win over Georgetown on Saturday. Villanova’s active five-game winning streak began with an 85-74 win over the Huskies on Feb. 5. A win on Tuesday would create their first sweep of the Huskies since 2001.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags