A 28th win on the trot didn’t come without an uphill battle for the UConn Huskies. Geno Auriemma’s team eventually returned from the Finneran Pavilion with a 14-point victory (69-83) over Villanova and their sixth consecutive Big East regular-season title. However, the Huskies, who have stood apart from the rest of the spectrum, showed signs of first-half struggles, with their star forward Sarah Strong struggling due to illness. That’s when Auriemma took charge during the halftime break, and his team responded perfectly.

Senior guard Azzi Fudd, who was instrumental for UConn’s second-half surge, revealed what Auriemma said in the huddle during the break while speaking in a post-game interview.

“It was kind of just, we needed to settle,” Fudd said. “We didn’t really show up the play today. So, we needed to settle, play basketball and figure it out. This was a good test for us, things weren’t going our way. Usually, first quarter or second quarter, we figure things out but that didn’t happen. So, it’s a good test for us to figure out, come together and settle and that was as much as it was.”

The Wildcats took charge immediately after tipoff. With Jasmine Bascoe and Denae Carter, Villanova took a substantial lead with an early flourish. The Huskies did manage to take a brief lead at 10-9, but seconds later, Carter hit a 27-foot jumper and a driving layup to tilt the game towards Villanova. All in all, the Wildcats led the Huskies for 16:10 minutes in the first half, the most the Huskies have trailed so far this season.

UConn’s performance in the first two quarters was marked by poor passes and frequent turnovers. The Huskies struggled with ball security in the first quarter, giving the ball away 8 times, and the Wildcats capitalized, taking a 3-point lead into the break (37-40). However, the performance flipped entirely in the second half as Auriemma’s huddle worked like magic.

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The Huskies played tight, each movement driven by motive and a strong defensive effort. With Strong, Fudd, KK Arnold, and Serah Williams, UConn scored 26 points alone in the third quarter, taking the lead convincingly from the Wildcats before capitalizing on it further in the fourth. Fudd led the scoring with 25 points, with 12 of them coming in the second half, and set the tone with a precise 25-foot jumper right after the third quarter tipoff.

Despite battling an unspecified illness, Sarah Strong logged 32 minutes. She scored a double-double with 21 points and 12 boards, with 9-13 from open play, complementing Fudd perfectly for the comeback. “It’s quite impressive, given that Strong isn’t in her best form in training due to the illness,” Auriemma said, as per a Hartford Courant reporter. “She’s a heck of a competitor,” the UConn head coach further added.

Strong also experienced tightness in her calves earlier this month. This forced her to sit out of the Butler game, her first absence from the starting lineup in her UConn career. While she returned in the very next game, she has looked a bit off with the lingering illness. While it has impacted her intensity at times, Geno Auriemma knows the Villanova struggle was much more than that.

Geno Auriemma Pinpoints What Tilted the Game Towards Villanova in the First Half

Led by Sarah Strong in a two-way role, the UConn Huskies have a formidable defensive scheme that has worked perfectly for them. Geno Auriemma’s team has protected the half-court and the perimeter perfectly, limiting opponents to just 26.6% from the deep, ranking eighth in the nation. However, against the Villanova Wildcats, the tables turned, and Auriemma knows that’s where his team tumbled in the first half.

“They didn’t play the way they normally play, which is a credit to Denise (Dillon) and her coaching staff, “Auriemma said. “I think they made a concerted effort to play more one-on-one and try to beat us off the dribble and get in the lane, hoping we help, which we did, and then kick it out. Then those guys have to make threes, and in the first half, they did.”

The Villanova Wildcats scored 11 of 24 from deep in the game. Notably, 7 of these three-pointers came in the first half of the game. However, with KK Arnold and Strong tightening the defense in the second half, they were short of options. This brief exposure of fragility at the start of the game didn’t cost them much in the end, courtesy of clutch performances from Strong and Fudd.

However, come March Madness, it will face even more top-ranked teams that can cause it irreparable damage in split seconds. However, for Auriemma and UConn, they still have a three-game stretch to address these shortcomings. Providence is next for them on February 21. It will be a perfect game for Geno Auriemma to determine if the slow starts are a deep-seated problem or an anomaly.

What’s your opinion regarding UConn’s early struggles against the Villanova Wildcats? Do let us know in the comments.