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Women Advance After Close Call vs. Buffalo

The Story: The women’s basketball team took care of business in the NCAA tournament over the weekend, crushing No. 15 seed Towson 110-61 in the opening-round game on Friday and then moving past No. 10 seed Buffalo 84-72 in the second round yesterday.

COLD SWEATS: The Huskies held a 15-0 lead after four minutes and were up by 24 points late in the third quarter before the roof started to cave in. Buffalo, which knocked off Rutgers on Friday, went on an 18-2 run that spanned much of the fourth quarter, but UConn managed to hang on with the lead never dropping below eight points.

Buffalo, the MAC champion, went just 4-of-14 in the fourth quarter but went 8-of-10 from the free throw line. The Huskies, meanwhile, made just one of 11 shots during the Bulls’ run and went 3-of-12 in the fourth quarter, but their own ability to convert late free throws — they went 5-of-6 from the line in the final 61 seconds — helped them ice their 26th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.

“I think that if we had five more minutes, we would’ve given them a run for their money,” said Buffalo’s Cierra Dillard, the nation’s second-leading scorer, who finished with 29 points on 9-of-23 shooting. “I think that they would’ve been in trouble. I think they got some fortunate calls, but it was a great fight.”

COLLIER IN CONTROL: Napheesa Collier, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds against Towson, followed that performance with 27 points and 16 rebounds against Buffalo. It was because of her, Geno Auriemma said, that the Huskies were able to gut out the win; she also finished with eight assists, falling two shy of a triple-double, as she helped facilitate UConn’s offense with Crystal Dangerfield ineffective because of foul trouble.

SAMUELSON RETURNS: After missing nearly three weeks with back spasms, Katie Lou Samuelson returned to the lineup against Towson on Friday and finished with 11 points in 22 minutes. She was thrust back into the fire yesterday, though, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 17 points on 4-of-12 shooting with eight made free throws.

TIGHTEN UP: In what is likely a preview of things to come, Geno didn’t care much to use his bench against the Bulls, with Collier, Samuelson and Megan Walker going all 40 minutes and Dangerfield, despite her foul concerns, playing 36 minutes. Christyn Williams, who has put together two strong NCAA tournament games by scoring 21 and then 17 points, played 33 minutes yesterday, leaving 11 minutes for Olivia Nelson-Ododa off the bench.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies shot 46 percent against Buffalo, a figure that was sunk because they went 35.5 percent from the floor in the second half. Because of Collier’s distribution, they had 22 assists on 29 baskets, but they turned the ball over 14 times. Buffalo also had the 48-45 edge in rebounding and had a 28-19 advantage in second-chance points, though they were no match for the Huskies in the paint offensively.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “That was a lot of work. That was really hard, even when it looked really easy for long stretches of the game in the first half or the third quarter. Even when it was easy, it was hard. There’s nothing that we got that we didn’t have to work for tonight. They made life really difficult for us at both ends of the floor. We just really played well in the first half and shot the ball great, and made it look like we normally make it look, but it didn’t feel that way.”

UP NEXT: The Huskies will face either No. 3 seed Maryland or No. 6 seed UCLA in the Sweet 16 in Albany next weekend. UConn played both teams last season and, predictably, won both games.

YESTERDAY’S SCORES:

TODAY’S SCHEDULE (All games broadcast regionally by ESPN2):

Sweet 16: Lucky Duke Escapes Against UCF

The Story: The Sweet 16 is set in what has been a nondescript tournament, though we did get the game of the tourney yesterday as No. 1 seed Duke held off No. 9 seed UCF 77-76. The NCAA tournament can create drama and legendary games on a moment’s notice.

DUKE GETS LUCKY: Check out the highlights. Duke escaped by the skin of its teeth and should have lost to UCF. The Knights were sensational, especially Aubrey Dawkins, who scored 32 points and somehow had his tip-in at the buzzer rim out. This game was so good, it made us nervous watching it.

BIG EAST OUT: The Big East was out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament with defending champ Villanova losing in the second round by TKO to Purdue 87-61. The Big East was a powerful 1-4 in the NCAA tournament. The Big East is slightly better than the AAC, but it isn’t big enough that it deserves the mythical Power 6 label. It doesn’t apply in basketball.

MORANT OUT: Murray State’s Ja Morant put on a show in Hartford, which fell in love with perhaps one of the top two players in the nation. Morant had 28 points and only four assists against Florida State. He finished his two games with 45 points, 20 assists, and 16 rebounds in two games. He’s a lock to be a top-five pick.

HOUSTON THE STANDARD BEARER: The Cougars are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since Phi Slamma Jamma and Guy Lewis in 1984. That’s insane. The Cougars beat Ohio State 74-59 and are the last team from the American around. They get Kentucky on Friday. What a great game.

CINDERELLA SITTING OUT? The highest seed to advance out of first round was UC Irvine. Three No. 12 seeds won, but let’s not go overboard as those games are hardly huge upsets. We don’t know if there is an underdog worthy of Cinderella’s slippers and please don’t ask us to root for Oregon. Only two of the Sweet 16 reside out of the Power 5 in Houston and Gonzaga, two top-10 programs. We’d liked to have seen Liberty or even Buffalo make it. There isn’t a mid-major to be found.

CHALK TALK: The top 12 seeds are alive and 14 of the top 16, save Auburn — a No. 5 seed — and No. 12 seed Oregon. That might not be a great opening weekend, but it sure will make for a hellacious Sweet 16. The theory we’ve always had is the better the opening weekend, the worse the tournament. The way we see it, while we sacrificed the charm and major upsets this year, there is no easy road from the Sweet 16 on. This tournament will pay off later this week.

YESTERDAY’S SCORES:

SWEET 16 SCHEDULE:

Morning Read

DO WHAT’S RIGHT: It would be a huge mistake if SNY was forbidden from broadcasting UConn women’s basketball games as part of the new AAC television deal. (Hartford Courant)

UNBELIEVABLE FROM LAMB: An incredible half-court heave from Jeremy Lamb helped the Charlotte Hornets beat the Toronto Rockets on the road last night and remain in the playoff hunt. You have to see this! (Charlotte Hornets on Twitter)

BASEBALL BEATS HOUSTON: Kudos to the baseball team, which beat Houston yesterday 9-3 and won its opening AAC series in Houston. The Huskies are on a 6-2 stretch heading into Spring Break and are 13-8 on the year. Remember, there is still snow on the ground in Storrs. (UConnHuskies.com)

FIELD HOCKEY’S RICH VALEDICTORIAN: Senior Ashley Rich is one of three valedictorians from the UConn School of Nursing with a 3.99 GPA. She also was a member of the 2017 national championship team. (UConnHuskies.com)

SOFTBALL STUMBLES: The softball team was swept in a three-game series at UCF to open AAC play and ended the weekend with a 2-1 loss yesterday. (UConnHuskies.com)

LAYING AN EGG: The women’s lacrosse team fell 17-8 to Delaware on Saturday in the teams’ first meeting. (UConnHuskies.com)

TULANE HIRES HUNTER: Ron Hunter, whose chair-falling escapades were one of the highlights of the NCAA tournament in 2015, has resigned at Georgia State to become Tulane’s next coach. Mike Dunleavy Sr. was fired last week. (Associated Press)