HARTFORD, Conn. — There haven’t been many games like it this season, but the UConn men’s basketball team took care of business on Tuesday night without any end-of-game theatrics.
The Huskies produced a commanding victory against Butler, 76-59, at XL Center. The game was initially scheduled for Jan. 1 but had been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Huskies’ program.
No. 25 UConn (12-4, 3-2 Big East) had a balanced scoring effort with five players in double-digit points (Adama Sanogo, R.J Cole, Tyler Polley, Andre Jackson, and Jordan Hawkins). Guard Cole scored 17 points, while forward Sanogo added 13 points and 15 rebounds, his fourth straight double-double. Hawkins finished with 14 points.
While Cole and Sanogo are first and second in points per game, respectively, it was Polley and Jackson who stood out.
After a rough shooting start beyond the arc this season, Polley has seemed to rediscover his shooting stroke in the last couple of games. He shot 2 for 4 beyond the arc against Butler. This comes off shooting 3 for 4 against St. John’s and 3 for 5 against Seton Hall from beyond the arc. The first half ended with Polley burying a 3 with a hand in his face. He finished with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field.
Jackson made three straight 3-pointers in the first half, including two from the same spot. UConn coach Dan Hurley talked previously about how much his game has grown and perhaps no better evidence is the leap in 3-point percentage from last season to this season. He shot 11.8% from 3 last season and is now better than 47% coming into this game, which is second on the team. He was also great on the boards fighting hard to secure critical rebounds. Jackson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Jayden Taylor led Butler with 19 points.
The game was ugly early. It took until the 17:06 mark in the first for the Huskies to score as Sanogo scored on his classic hook shot. Butler scored their second bucket of the game when UConn’s Jackson had the ball stolen on the rebound by Butler’s John-Michael Mulloy, who dunked the ball to cut the UConn lead to 10-4 at the 13:08 mark.
At the 5:11 mark, Jackson caught fire from beyond the arc after draining a 3 from the top of the arc. On the very next possession, he made a 3 from the same spot to put the Huskies up 31-16 and walked off with a bit of swagger. Immediately after, Butler called timeout with 4:38 left in the half. Cole didn’t score his first bucket until a layup with 2:43 left (he shot 8 for 9 from the line) but was tied with Polley for the most points in the half with 10.
While it took some time for UConn’s offense to warm up, the Huskie’s defensive identity was evident from tip-off. UConn held Butler to 8-for-30 (26.7%) shooting from the field. Nothing came easy for the Bulldogs on the offensive end as they struggled to score in the paint and got blocked five times in the first half. UConn went into the half with a commanding 39-24 lead.
The second half started with a quick 4-0 UConn run that led to a Butler timeout at the 18:35 mark. The Bulldogs cut the lead to just 11 points after Simas Lukosius’s jumper at the 14:38 mark. The Huskies never let the game get closer than that the rest of the game.
