STORRS, Conn. — UConn has rarely had to spend this much energy to win a second-round NCAA Tournament game, rarely, if ever, had to work this hard for a win over an American Athletic Conference opponent.
But UCF’s players and coaches made it clear they were not afraid, didn’t come to Connecticut to kiss anyone’s rings. The Knights pushed and shoved, dived and clawed, and made the Huskies play their rough and tumble game.
And UConn was up to the challenge, shaking off a first-quarter shooting slump, hitting big shots in the second half and free throws down the stretch to survive 52-57 before 10,167 at sold-out Gampel Pavilion on Monday night.
The Huskies (27-5), the No. 2 seed in the region, play No. 3 Indiana next Saturday in Bridgeport. Indiana beat Princeton, coached by former Husky Carla Berube, 56-55 in its second-round game. It will be UConn’s 28th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
Azzi Fudd scored 16 points, though she needed 13 shots, and Christyn Williams 12 as UConn, shooting just 29.2 percent and outrebounded 35-28, was taken out of its aesthetic game, but proved it could win an entirely different kind of affair.
Even after the Huskies finally built a decent lead, 48-36 with under 5 minutes to go, the relentless Knights kept pressing and trapping and surged back within three. With a chance to make a one-point game with 22 seconds left, Brittney Smith missed a a free throw, and her second was negated by a lane violation.
Williams hit two free throws to allow the building to breathe, and Fudd hit two more to ice it.
Diamond Battles scored 12 for UCF (26-4), which shot 34.8 percent but had 20 turnovers. If there was a key to UConn’s hanging on, it was limiting its turnovers to 13 against the steady ball pressure.
The physical game that was promised didn’t take long to unfold. UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards and UCF’s Battles went flying after a loose ball into the corner and ended up hurtling into a chair. Later in the first quarter, Paige Bueckers (nine points) and UCF’s Tay Sanders wrestled hard for a free ball, eventually a jump ball. Bueckers egged the crowd on.
Amid the pushing and shoving, UConn was off its game, missing 10 of its first 12 shots as UCF opened an 11-4 lead. Fudd, after five misses, hit a 3-pointer to get UConn going again. The Huskies matched the Knights’ intensity and toughness, and slowly got UCF in foul trouble, but were still missing shots they usually make and trailed 18-12 after one quarter.
After scoring five points at the line, UConn took the lead on Nika Muhl’s 3-pointer, and led 26-23 at halftime.
More of the same in the second half, diving, sliding, fighting for loose balls on both sides, but UConn slowly pulled away. Williams scored on a nifty move through traffic to give the Huskies a 38-30 lead after three, and Fudd’s 3-pointer, a killer at the end of the shot clock, made it 41-30 early in the fourth.
