The top seeded Marquette Golden Eagles and the 4th seeded UConn Huskies survived and advanced in quarterfinal round of the Big East tournament, but it wasn't easy for either of them. On Friday night the 25-7 Huskies, ranked 11th in the country, take on the 26-6 Golden Eagles, who are ranked 6th in the nation. These two teams split two games this season, with both winning at home. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
As UConn coach Danny Hurley said after UConn's 73-66 win over the 5th seeded Providence on Thursday, the team played about as well as they could play for 30 minutes and then about as bad as they can play for the final 8 minutes or so. The Huskies put on a clinic for most of the game as they led 35-19 at halftime and built a 26 point lead at one point.
Hawkins – 19 pts
Newton – 16 pts
Sanogo – 10pts, 5/5 shooting
Jackson – 9 pts, 11 reb, 6 asst
Karaban – 8 ptsUConn shot better on FG: 53%-41%, and from three, 43% (13-30) to 26% (6-23), and won rebounds 35-25 and bench points, 27-17
— The UConn Blog (@TheUConnBlog) March 9, 2023
But coach Ed Cooley's Friars team doesn't give up and they came storming back, cutting the lead to five with a little over a minute left. But UConn's Alex Karaban hit a big three that proved to be the dagger with about a minute left and UConn avoided disaster. Jordan Hawkins led UConn with 19 points while Tristen Newton had 16 points and 7 assists. The Huskies out rebounded Providence 32-22.
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