March 12, 2026; New York, New York, USA; UConn Huskies forward Taris Reed Jr. (5) shoots past Xavier Musketeers forward Tre Carroll (12) and Xavier Musketeers forward Jovan Milicevic (24) in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Image NEW YORK — UConn bounced back from a surprising loss in the regular season finale with a dominant performance against Xavier in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
The second-seeded Huskies (28-4) will look for another strong showing when they face 11th-seeded Georgetown (16-17) in the semifinals Friday night.
The winner advances to Saturday’s championship game to face top seed St. Louis. They will face either St. John’s or fourth seed Seton Hall.
The sixth-ranked Huskies shot 35.6% from the field and went 3 of 24 from 3-point range in a crushing 68-62 loss at Marquette last Saturday to close out the regular season.
After a film session led by somber head coach Dan Hurley, UConn advanced to the Big East semifinals with a 93-68 win over No. 10 seed Xavier on Thursday night.
This is the Huskies’ sixth consecutive appearance in the tournament semifinals since rejoining the conference for the 2020-21 season.
“It was great to get back on the court after being stifled over the weekend,” Hurley said. “I was really impressed with the way these guys came out and the energy level. There was nothing left in that performance.”
The Huskies earned their sixth win by at least 25 points this season and got big plays from Solo Ball, Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban.
Ball scored 19 points after shooting 34.1 percent (15 of 44) over the final five games of the regular season. He sank 4 of 12 UConn 3-pointers and was 5-of-12 on Thursday.
“Now it’s a new season, you have to erase what you did before, good or bad, and leverage and trust your own work,” Ball said.
Reed totaled 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds to advance to the semifinals with his fourth straight double-double, leading the Huskies to a 40-28 rebounding edge on Thursday.
Karaban was limited to two points at Marquette on Saturday and opened his final Big East tournament with 15 points.
Georgetown has won three in a row following a seven-game skid, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since winning the tournament in surprising fashion as an eighth seed in 2021.
After opening the tournament with a 63-56 win over sixth-seeded DePaul on Wednesday, the Hoyas did even better on Thursday with a 78-64 win over third-seeded Villanova.
Georgetown joins Villanova (2004) as the second double-digit seed to reach the semifinals. Thanks to Julius Halaiforua’s first career double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
The sophomore center finished one shy of his career-high score and helped the Hoyas take control of the glass, 46-25.
“We’re going to play one of the best teams in the country,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said of UConn. “They earned that right. … Danny has done an incredible job of getting that program back where it was.
“We’re very excited to be here. I want our players to feel how special it is to play at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. We’re going to give them that experience and give ourselves an opportunity to improve if we continue to do what we’ve been doing over the last few days.”
The Huskies won their two regular season games against the Hoyas by a combined six points and didn’t see much of Halaiforua.
In a 64-62 road win on Jan. 17, Reed had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Halaiponua played eight minutes.
On February 14, Ball scored 20 points and Halaiponua played 15 minutes in a 79–75 home win. Contributed 4 points and 1 rebound.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
