Huskies Turn Focus to Big East Play

The Story: The No. 17-ranked UConn women had their most dominant performance of the season in an 86-62 win over No. 18 Louisville at the XL Center on Saturday, but their attention immediately turns to tonight's game against Butler in Hartford (7 p.m., SNY).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Aubrey Griffin broke out for a team-high 25 points, Aaliyah Edwards had 22 points and seven rebounds and Paige Bueckers had 20 points, five rebounds and a career-high five blocks as the Huskies (7-3) reestablished their dominance over the Cardinals on Saturday.

• UConn may have given up a few inches to its counterpart, but that didn't matter: It surprisingly outrebounded Louisville 33-29, thanks in part to Nika Muhl matching a season high with seven boards. The Huskies also had the 30-20 edge in points in the paint.

• Amazingly, the Huskies shot 59.8 percent, with Edwards going 10-for-12 and Griffin going 9-for-11. The team shot 7-for-18 from 3-point range, which means it went 69.4 percent on 2-pointers.

• Louisville's leading scorer, Kiki Jefferson, still finished with 19 points, and Olivia Cochran had 12 points and six rebounds. But only two other players scored more than two points for the Cardinals.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? "Seasons take on a life of their own. Some start out great and they fade, and some start out as a struggle and it gets better and better. The key is just to keep getting keep getting better, keep getting more people comfortable playing the minutes that they're playing."

AND THAT LEADS US TO … Tonight, when UConn begins Big East play by welcoming Butler to town.

• This particular dog fight has taken place five times, though none have been particularly close. The Huskies have won each by an average of 43 points per game.

• The Bulldogs (7-3) are in their second season under coach Austin Parkinson, who led them to an 11-19 finish a year ago and is clearly gaining momentum.

• They're led by senior guard Caroline Strande, whose 16.1 points and 7.4 rebounds are team highs, and sophomore guard Jordan Meulemans and redshirt senior forward Rachel Kent are also averaging more than 10 points per game.

PATTERSON OUT: The Butler game gives us a good segue into telling you that UConn announced on Friday that Ayanna Patterson, who's from Fort Wayne, Indiana, will miss the entire season after she underwent surgery on her left knee on Thursday. That means three players — Patterson, Azzi Fudd and Jana El Alfy — are now out for the season.

WHAT TO EXPECT: This game should be another cakewalk, but it probably won't go as easily as it has in past seasons — such as in 2021, when UConn won 103-35.

• What's more interesting to see is how Geno handles the rotations, given the high-intensity clash against Louisville on Saturday and the upcoming game at Toronto Metropolitan, which was scheduled to get Edwards a homecoming game, on Wednesday. That game clearly matters least, but will Geno take a bit of the pressure off his starters if there's a big lead against Butler?

• Ah, who are we kidding. We know there'll be no letup tonight, circumstances be damned.

— Zac Boyer

After Gonzaga Rout, Seton Hall in Sights

The Story: The No. 5-ranked UConn men are primed to make a run in the Big East after another dominant nonconference run capped by an impressive wire-to-wire 76-63 win over No. 10 Gonzaga on Friday in Seattle.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn (10-1) is a Cam Spencer 3-pointer against Kansas away from being undefeated and the No. 1-ranked team. The Huskies have been dominant in the other 10 games, with all 10 wins coming by double digits, and are among the favorites to reach the Final Four and cut down the nets.

• UConn is No. 3 in KenPom and No. 5 in the NCAA’s NET ranking, which puts the Huskies as a potential No. 1 seed heading into Big East play.

• UConn is 27-1 in nonconference play over the last two seasons with the only loss coming at Kansas earlier this month. They’ll play their first Big East game on Wednesday at Seton Hall.

DOMINANT AGAINST GONZAGA: Donovan Clingan finally broke out against a top team by scoring 21 points, grabbing eight rebounds and controlling the paint. Clingan was 8-for-11 and went 5-for-7 from the free throw line.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies, who never trailed against Gonzaga, shot 56 percent. They had 42 points in the paint and were prolific form 3-point range in the first half, when they went 7-for-9. But for the first time this season, the Huskies were outrebounded, 32-26.

WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “The difference between last [season] and this [season] is that defensive intensity, that identity to be able to win a game by getting stops. We shot the cover off the ball in the first half and then the second half we didn’t make a 3, so we won it with defense.”

— John Silver

Morning Reads

• Even though football's early signing period doesn't begin until Wednesday, Cole Welliver wasn't wasting his time. The Texas high school senior quarterback shared that he signed his scholarship papers on Saturday. Welliver threw for 50 touchdowns and only three interceptions in leading his team, Liberty Christian, to a 14-0 record and a Texas state title. He had offers from Colorado, Washington State and Arizona State but committed to UConn in June and has maintained his pledge.

• Andre Jackson started again on Saturday and set career highs with 10 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes in the Bucks' 146-114 win over the hapless Pistons.

Top photo: Aubrey Griffin drives to the basket in the Huskies’ game against Dayton. (Courtesy of UConn athletics)