UConn Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies Big East victory against Xavier

1. Xavier hung around too long

No game is an easy game in the Big East Conference, but there were plenty of opportunities for this team to get put away. After the Diarra three, it seemed that UConn was in a position to take hold of the momentum, and coast to victory the rest of the way. The Cintas Center always finds a way to get loud again and give their Musketeers a spark though, and that is exactly what happened.

This Xavier team that has had its share of ups and downs has always found a way to fight back in games, and they impressed against a top-five team in the nation that may find themselves at No. 1 pretty soon. So, you cannot overreact to how this was a three-point game at one point down the stretch, with the lead being evaporated in the final six minutes of the game by Xavier.

But when it comes to winning a National Championship, and even a Big East Championship, you go out and put away teams when given the opportunity. UConn was unable to do that, and maybe they would have been able to do so if Clingan had been in the game, but this was still a moment where they could have gotten back to dominant fashion against a good team. A win is a win, of course, and there should not be anybody upset about this game given every circumstance surrounding it, but going forward the way UConn is winning will not be as sustainable as they like.

The UConn Huskies will be fine, they played well on the road to take home this victory, but you always have to ask for more with a team like this. Hurley and this team have always been able to kick it back into gear and dominate after just getting by, so we will see when that dominant game happens for this team.