Villanova vs. UConn Box Score, Stats, Game Summary and more ft. Alex Karaban

No. 3 seed UConn held off No. 6 seed Villanova in the final Big East Conference Tournament semifinal by a 73-56 count. The Huskies (23-9) will continue on to the Big East semifinals on Friday, while the Wildcats (19-14) likely are all but eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova vs. UConn Box Score

Villanova

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
J. Brickus	8	0	2	1	0	0	3	34
W. Poplar	25	4	1	1	0	2	1	36
E. Boakye	3	4	0	3	0	1	2	28
J. Longino	10	1	1	0	0	1	2	35
E. Dixon	8	2	1	1	1	3	1	33
T. Perkins	2	6	0	0	0	0	3	27
J. Dumont	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3

UConn

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
S. Ball	11	0	1	0	0	1	3	30
H. Diarra	2	2	5	1	0	2	2	22
A. Karaban	18	9	6	1	1	1	2	38
L. McNeeley	12	7	0	0	0	3	1	32
S. Johnson	11	1	1	1	1	1	2	22
A. Nowell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Stewart	7	3	1	0	0	0	1	20
I. Abraham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
T. Reed Jr.	5	5	0	0	1	0	1	17
A. Mahaney	7	1	3	1	0	1	2	16
J. Ross	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Y. Singare	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Villanova vs. UConn Game Summary

Villanova jumped out to a 17-8 lead on a 3-pointer from Wooga Poplar with 11:33 to go in the first half. UConn eventually battled back to tie the game at 31 with 2:05 to go in the half on a Liam McNeely 3-pointer. Villanova answered with an Eric Dixon 3-pointer and a Poplar jumper to go up 36-31 at halftime.

After some back and forth, UConn again evened the score at 46 on an Aidan Mahaney layup with 10:55 to play. Dixon made a free throw for Villanova to bring the teams to a 51-all tie with 7:58 to play.

But UConn then broke free, scoring the next seven points, including an Alex Karaban 3-pointer, to take a lead the Huskies would not relinquish.

Karaban led the Huskies with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Liam McNeeley added 12 points and seven boards. Solo Ball and Samson Johnson each chipped in 11 points for UConn.

Wooga Poplar paced Villanova with 25 points. Jordan Longino chipped in 10 points for the Wildcats. Villanova shot just 21% in the second half of the game, as the Huskies pulled away late.

The Huskies will move on to play No. 2 seed Creighton in Friday's Big East Conference Tournament semifinals. UConn will play in the late game, which will be televised on Fox at around 9 p.m. EST.

Villanova was the fourth team on ESPN Bracketology's next four out, so the loss likely ends their NCAA Tournament hopes in all but formality.