R.J. Cole canned a runner with 5.9 seconds left Tuesday night as No. 21 UConn rallied from a four-point deficit in the last 30 seconds to stop No. 8 Villanova 71-69 in Hartford, Conn.
After the Huskies (20-7, 11-5 Big East) forced a turnover, Cole drove on Brandon Slater, gained the lane and sank a short shot as the sellout crowd at XL Center went wild. Cole then drew an offensive foul on Collin Gillespie’s drive to the basket with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Cole finished with 12 points for UConn, while Adama Sanogo pumped in a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Isaiah Whaley scored 13 as the Huskies connected on 10 of 24 3-pointers and forced 14 turnovers.
Gillespie scored 17 points for the Wildcats (21-7, 14-4), while Slater added 15. Jermaine Samuels hit for 13 points and Justin Moore tallied 12. Villanova connected on 12 3-pointers and outscored UConn by six points at the line, but it wasn’t enough.
Huskies fans stormed the floor after time expired, celebrating perhaps their biggest win under coach Dan Hurley. Ironically, Hurley wasn’t around to enjoy it as he was kicked out late in a first half that featured no less than four technicals.
The teams wasted no time getting after each other in a game that bore the stamp of a Big East slugfest from the 1980s. It was tempestuous, rancorous and occasionally controversial, no more so than at the 4:53 mark of the first half.
That was when Hurley was tossed after drawing two technical fouls. He banged the scorer’s table after a no-call, got the first technical and then continued to argue until drawing the second one. Assistant coach Kimani Young took over at that point.
UConn appeared to draw a little inspiration from the ejection of its leader. It ended the half with a 9-3 spurt, getting a layup from Sanogo in the final minute to take a 33-32 edge to the locker room.
–Field Level Media
