By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
 
On a scale of 1-10, the challenge the Villanova Wildcats faced Thursday night in the BIG EAST quarterfinals was hovering right around a 10. Now it’s one thing to be playing for your NCAA Tournament life each time you step on the court, needing to win each time out to secure a longshot invite to the Big Dance,
 
But to have to do it against UConn, who is not only the two-time defending National Champions but also the defending BIG EAST titleist, and well, that’s just a whole load or trouble you’d rather not have to deal with. But the Wildcats have no choice in the matter. If they want to lock up an NCAA bid, if you want to be happy and relaxed on Selection Sunday, eager to learn where you’re going to be playing and against whom, you better rise to the occasion and find a way to take down the Huskies or your Sunday basketball viewing experience is going to wind up leaving you a little empty inside.
 
Oh, and it’s not like the Huskies don’t have their own agenda going into the game. UConn won both the BIG EAST regular season title (for the 11th time) and tournament title (its eighth) last season. Both of those title totals are BIG EAST bests. So you don’t think UConn might be entertaining the thought of adding another chunk of championship hardware to its already bulging trophy case? Have you not met Dan Hurley?
 
Well, spoiler alert: It’s not going to be a very good Sunday for the Wildcats as Eric Dixon, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer, suffered through his worst shooting night of the season, finishing just 2-of-15 from the floor and just 1-for-7 from three-point range which helped UConn rally from nine points down in the first half before using a 22-5 run to close out the game to blow by Villanova, 73-56, Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
 
Third-seeded UConn (23-9) moves on to face No. 2 seed Creighton in the semifinals Friday night at 9 p.m. while Villanova (19-14) heads home, no doubt looking at a third straight non-NCAA tournament postseason.
 
Looking for a reason behind UConn’s spirited play in the second half? Look no further than Alex Karaban, who scored 15 points in the decisive second half when the Huskies looked to be firing on all cylinders.
 
“I felt like I I had to be more aggressive coming out of halftime,” Karaban said. “Just be that player that the team needs me to be and just rely on my confidence. I’ve got to be that player for us to step up and I felt like I had to step up compared to the first half that I had.”
 
After trailing 36-31 at the half, it took almost 11 minutes of play in the second half before the Huskies took their first lead, at 49-48 on a pair of free throws from Karaban. But it wasn’t until 7:31 remained in the game that UConn would take the lead for good on a pair of free throws by LIam McNeeley for a 53-51 advantage. Villanova tried to hang around but with Dixon seemingly lost on offense and Wooga Poplar disappearing down the stretch, UConn used a pair of huge three-pointers from Karaban to pull away and salt away the victory.
 
Not to get lost in the Huskies’ offensive surge in the second half was the stellar defensive job UConn did on Dixon, who saw his streak of 47 consecutive games with double figure scoring totals snapped Thursday night when he finished with just eight points.
 
“I thought we made very few mistakes,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “Honestly for him it was probably one of those nights. But Samson (Johnson) did a great job on him, Alex did a great job, Tarris (Reed Jr.) did a great job.”
 
Karaban finished with 18 points for UConn, McNeeley added 12 and the tandem of Johnson and Solo Ball posted 11 points apiece. Poplar led all scorers with 25 points in the losing effort. Now UConn sits just two wins away from repeating as BIG EAST Tournament champions and that championship pedigree the Huskies have developed over the past couple of seasons will be relied upon to carry UConn the rest of the way.
 
“Wearing that UConn jersey, you have to take honor and pride with it and play with that swagger,” Karaban said. “Especially in March now there’s no better time to give everything you’ve got right now and just play as hard as you can every single time. Especially in March when you want to win championships. We try to take that step now and we have a big one tomorrow.”