HARTFORD - No. 4 and No. 21 each came through big for the University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball program on Tuesday night. The pair dominated the stat sheet and bore a detailed animated likeness of Jonathan, the school’s Husky mascot, on their shorts.
Ben Gordon and Josh Boone were nowhere to be found. But those who bear their numerals and aesthetic honored their respective legacies in the sweetest of ways.
Adama Sanogo (24 points, 15 rebounds) and Tyrese Martin (18 points, 15 rebounds) each put forth double-doubles against the 18th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles at XL Center. Their efforts sparked the fire that burned down No. 24 UConn’s two-game losing streak, as the Huskies earned an 80-72 victory. Connecticut (16-6, 7-4 Big East) has won all four matchups over the Golden Eagles (16-8, 8-5 Big East) since their annual two-game series resumed last season.
As the Big East stretch run looms, the Huskies returned to Hartford with a losing streak for the first time this season, a brief two-game fall that caused them to drop seven spots in the latest Associated Press poll. The Golden Eagles, on the other hand, had won eight of their prior nine in a stretch that included a sweep of Villanova. To get back on track, UConn would have to earn its first win over ranked opponents since the Battle 4 Atlantis tilt against current No. 1 Auburn back on Nov. 24.
Fresh off a pair of season-worst performances in the losses to Creighton and Villanova, the Huskies’ shooting warmed up at the right time. UConn never trailed after Martin successfully converted a three-point play to create a 14-13 lead with just over seven minutes gone by, after which they would go on to build a lead that reached as high as 14 and was built on a foundation of a 59 percent conversion rate in the first half.
Their own winning ways fueled by resiliency, Marquette came as close as they possibly could without stealing back the lead, whittling the deficit down to one just beyond eight minutes gone by in the latter frame. Defense, however, took over from there on out, and it was a gritty, physical effort that allowed the Huskies to prevail. Though Marquette upped the defensive intensity, UConn embarked on a four-minute, 10-0 run that re-established its lead, all but two of those points coming from the foul line. Another Marquette run trimmed the lead back down to three, but a triple from Martin kept things at a comfortable Husky margin over the final four-plus minutes.
Sanogo reached double-figures in rebounding for the first time since Jan. 18 in the win while Martin’s own haul off the boards was his best output in his UConn carrer (his all-time being being 16 as a Rhode Island sophomore in 2020). On the other side, Justin Lewis fell just short
of a double-double of his own (17 points, 9 rebounds) while Olivier-Maxence Prosper led the team with 18 tallies.
One more ranked test awaits UConn on Friday night, as they’ll head to Cincinnati to battle No. 25 Xavier (7 p.m. ET, FS1). The Musketeers (16-6, 6-5 Big East) have dropped three of their last five games, including a troubling 69-65 home loss to DePaul last Saturday. Connecticut won the only meeting between the two teams last season, taking an 80-72 road decision at Cintas Center.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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