{"id":8274,"date":"2026-02-22T07:12:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T02:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/no-5-uconn-second-half-spurt-overpowers-villanova\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:12:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T02:12:52","slug":"no-5-uconn-second-half-spurt-overpowers-villanova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/no-5-uconn-second-half-spurt-overpowers-villanova\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 5 UConn second-half spurt overpowers Villanova"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"NCAAFeb 21, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; UConn Huskies guard Solo Ball (1) dunks the ball against the Villanova Wildcats during the first half at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Alex Karaban scored eight of his 12 points in the second half as No. 5 UConn posted a 73-63 win over Villanova on Saturday in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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All five starters scored between nine and 12 points for the Huskies (25-3, 15-2 Big East), who bounced back nicely from a 91-84 loss to Creighton. Tarris Reed Jr. shot 5 of 5 from the field for 11 points, while Braylon Mullins pitched in 10 points.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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The Huskies shot 54.9% from the floor and 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. They also dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 37-24.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Tyler Perkins scored 15 points to pace Villanova (21-6, 12-4), which had won six straight games since losing to UConn last month. Matt Hodge chipped in with 13 points for the Wildcats, while Acaden Lewis scored 11 points — all in the first half.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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After leading by two at halftime, UConn created separation early in the second half. Mullins’ 3-pointer began a 13-2 run that also included two buckets by Karaban and a 3-pointer by Solo Ball.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Villanova did not make a basket in the second half until Malachi Palmer scored with 14:35 left. Shortly thereafter, Hodge’s 3-pointer brought the hosts within 49-41.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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However, the Huskies’ reserves responded with a quick 7-0 burst. Jaylin Stewart’s 3-pointer began that surge before Eric Reibe and Malachi Smith each added a bucket to make it 56-41.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Reed’s jumper with just under five minutes left sent the Huskies’ lead north of 20 for the first time. Villanova scored 17 points down the stretch to make the final score a bit more respectable.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Neither team led by more than five during a first half that ended with the Huskies ahead 34-32. The teams combined to shoot 5 of 22 from 3-point range in the opening session.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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UConn committed eight turnovers in the first half to offset an efficient 57.7% shooting effort.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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Lewis (11 points) and Perkins (10) led all players in first-half scoring.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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–Field Level Media<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n


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Feb 21, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; UConn Huskies guard Solo Ball (1) dunks the ball against the Villanova Wildcats during the first half at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Alex Karaban scored eight of his 12 points in the second half as No. 5 UConn posted a 73-63 win over Villanova on […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}