UConn Squeezes Past Syracuse

The Story: KK Arnold made a 3-pointer with 27.9 seconds remaining, and despite a nail-biting finish, No. 3 seed UConn held on to beat No. 6 seed Syracuse 72-64 at Gampel Pavilion last night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies (31-5) led 39-28 at halftime, but a late run by Syracuse trimmed that lead to as little as three points before Arnold knocked down an open 3 from the left wing that essentially put the final nail in the coffin.

• Syracuse even had the ball while down 67-64 the possession before Arnold’s 3, but Ashlynn Shade poked it away from Dyaisha Fair and Paige Bueckers jumped on it and called a timeout to let the Huskies head back down the court.

• Bueckers then found Arnold all alone on the left side, and Arnold, who hadn’t even taken a shot in the fourth quarter, calmly made the 3 with Syracuse’s Alyssa Latham desperately trying to recover.

• Fair then chucked up a wildly off-balance 3-pointer with 20 seconds left that bounced hard off the backboard, and Syracuse’s Georgia Woolley missed two tries within the next 13 seconds to seal it.

GET BUCKETS: Bueckers led the Huskies with 32 points on 14-for-25 shooting — the second-most shots she’s taken in her time at UConn — and secured a double-double with a rebound on Woolley’s final miss. Edwards had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Shade had 19 points, and Arnold completed UConn’s scoring with 10 points.

• Geno Auriemma only went with a six-player rotation, with Ice Brady taking the court for 17 minutes and Qadence Samuels on the bench. Brady would have played even less had Nika Muhl not fouled out with 5:16 remaining, and her turnovers on back-to-back possessions with less than three minutes remaining were not comforting.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO: Woolley, who took a rather innocent shove from Muhl and acted like she had been rocked by Mike Tyson. Muhl fouled out on the play, and on the following possession, Woolley and Bueckers got tangled up in the open court, and Wooley again flailed her arms to draw a foul call.

FAIR PLAY: Fair, who entered averaging 22.3 points per game, scored 20 against the Huskies. (She still passed Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles and Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell to move into third place on the Division I career scoring list). But Fair had just two points in the first half, when she went 0-for-7, and scored 10 in the fourth quarter.

• Muhl’s defense on Fair was excellent, to nobody’s surprise. She didn’t allow Fair to get any space, anticipated the quick-release 3s (and even blocked one), and consistently stayed in front of her. “She’s probably the hardest player I’ve ever had to guard in my life,” Muhl said.

• When Muhl fouled out, Bueckers was seen telling her teammates, “I’ve got her. I’ve got her.” And she stayed on Fair for the remainder of the game.

MORE ON MUHL: Although she didn’t score and spent her final minutes at Gampel Pavilion on the bench, Muhl accomplished one milestone last night. She had five assists and finished her time in Storrs with 663 assists, passing Moriah Jefferson with an assist on a 3-pointer by Shade for No. 660.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: UConn narrowly had the edge in rebounding, 37-36, but Syracuse, one of the best offensive rebounding teams in Division I, collected 17 that it only turned into 14 points.

• UConn shot 50.9 percent, including 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from 3-point range, while Syracuse shot 33.8 percent. UConn also outscored Syracuse 30-10 in the paint, but the Orange had the 11-9 advantage in fast-break points.

• Woolley had 18 points and Sophie Burrows went 6-for-11 from beyond the arc to finish with a career-high 18 points. Not in the box score? Alaina Rice, the Orange’s third-leading scorer, who was injured in the first-round win over Arizona.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “We had a couple people on our team that knew how to win the game, and that’s what you need at this time of year. You need people who can make winning plays at big moments, especially the last five minutes of the game. You need people that can make those plays, the shots that they have to make, the rebounds that they have to get, the loose balls they got to get, the stops they have to have. … We’re fortunate, and we get to go back to where it ended for us last year. I think we’re a different team, different mindset and we’re hoping for a different outcome.”

UP NEXT: The Huskies will face No. 7 Duke on Saturday in Portland, Oregon, in the Sweet 16. It’s the 30th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance for UConn, which lost in this round a year ago. The time hasn’t yet been determined.

— Zac Boyer

Can Anyone Beat the Huskies?

The Story: Top-seeded UConn is headed to the Sweet 16, and if anyone thinks the Huskies aren’t the overwhelming favorites, we haven’t found that person.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher, fresh off a blowout win over Yale and set for a matchup with UConn, wasn’t shy about where his team was headed. Dutcher, perhaps trying to lower the pressure and expectations, kindly referred to the NCAA Tournament as “the UConn Invitational.”

• What is it about the Huskies that has everyone picking them to win the title or proclaiming them the best team even while betting on one of the other 15 teams because crassly, things happen? We saw a bit of it in a 40-18 halftime lead over Northwestern on Sunday as the Huskies have yet to trail in the tournament.

• UCLA coach Mick Cronin knows the Huskies well after coaching against them while at Cincinnati. He said the Huskies are clearly the best team and that it isn’t particularly close.

• On ESPN, in perhaps the most comical segment of the day, Northwestern alum Mike Greenberg said he was so impressed with the Huskies that he asked, in exasperation, if they could make the playoffs in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. We know it was a bit tongue in cheek, but it spawned some laughs and then perhaps the quote of the day by Jay Williams: “Teams can see the light at the end of the tunnel in the Sweet 16. But, is it a light or a freight train? UConn is a freight train.”

FAVORITES IN THE EAST: The East Region is, according to all metrics and the eye test, the toughest region in the NCAA Tournament. UConn is still an overwhelming favorite and is -230 to reach the Final Four. That means you have to go to Rhode Island and plunk down $230 to win $100. The second-best team, Purdue, has an easier path and is still +120, which means you have to bet $100 to win $120.

• The point spread on Thursday is 10.5. San Diego State, the No. 5 seed and runner-up to UConn last year, was the Mountain West champion and is an imposing physical team with more offensive talent than a year ago.

WHY PICK AGAINST THE HUSKIES? Easy. It’s hard to win the NCAA Tournament, much less twice in two years. Hope for a great shooting night and pray the Huskies don’t have an off night like they did when they went 3-for-22 from 3-point range against Northwestern.

• The tournament is wacky and unpredictable, and maybe there’s a random player like Oakland’s Jack Gohlke who will hit 10 3-pointers out of nowhere. This is the first time the reigning NCAA champion has made the Sweet 16 in a decade. A lot of dominant teams have fallen short, including undefeated Kentucky in 2015, Duke in 1999 (we know that one well) and, of course, UNLV in 1991.

• Is UConn on that level? The metrics say it’s close and the Huskies hold the record with eight consecutive double-digit NCAA Tournament wins. UConn is a third of the way to completing one of the greatest seasons ever.

CLINGAN RISES: Now that NBA scouts are really focusing on UConn, Donovan Clingan is considered the No. 5 pick in the latest ESPN mock draft. Stephon Castle is No. 17, so the Huskies have top-shelf talent and good college players.

• ESPN also has Alex Karaban as the No. 50 pick, though we curiously don’t see Cam Spencer in its projection. Though, with shooting like his, he’s at worst a two-way development player like Adama Sanogo.

— John Silver

Morning Reads

• The softball team has proactively made a few changes to its schedule because of inclement weather. It will play a doubleheader against Boston University this afternoon, not just one game, and moved its Friday game against Providence to Monday.

Top photo: Paige Bueckers celebrates during the Huskies’ Big East title game win over Georgetown at Mohegan Sun Arena. (Courtesy of UConn athletics)