PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A stellar afternoon from redshirt sophomore Eric Dixon helped lift the No. 12 Villanova Wildcats past Connecticut 85-74 before a crowd of 19,786 at the Wells Fargo Center here Saturday. Dixon connected on 10-of-15 field goal attempts on his way to 24 points, a dozen rebounds and four assists.
 
Collin Gillespie added 19 points before leaving the game with an ankle injury with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats were already without his starting partner in the backcourt, junior guard Justin Moore, who suffered a left ankle injury late in Wednesday night's 83-73 loss at Marquette.
 
Senior Caleb Daniels added 16 points for Villanova (17-6 overall, 10-3 BIG EAST) while junior Chris Arcidiacono added a career-high nine points for the Wildcats. RJ Cole led UConn with 25 points.
 
"You get a lead in a Big East game, and you know that no one is going to quit," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright, whose team built a 23-point lead midway through the period before the Huskies began a furious charge. "UConn came back and we weathered the storm. I'm proud of the guys.
 
"Obviously Eric was really good. He got (Adama) Sanogo in foul trouble early, which was big. It wasn't a plan, to be honest with you, but when it happened it was a positive for us. Sanogo is a force, which you could see at the start of the second half. They were going to him and it was tough to stop him."
 
Wright did not have an update on Gillespie's status moving forward.
 
"I don't know," he said. "We're going to get him x-rayed and we'll see. He came down on a shooter's foot."
 
Tyrese Martin scored the first five points for Connecticut, allowing it to race out to an early edge. Quality work in the low post by Dixon – six early points – and Gillespie helped the Wildcats regain the lead at 16-12 as the game clock ticked below 11 minutes in the first half.
 
"Eric just did an amazing job of posting up and sealing his man," Wright stated. "In the first half, when we created our distance, Caleb driving the ball was important. There were a couple when he didn't get the call but they were great drives. He was really effective in that way."
 
Villanova used a 2-3 zone defense that helped it get a series of defensive stops that sparked an 8-0 run to push its advantage to 28-19 with 5:45 left in the half.
 
Another 8-0 VU run late in the half stretched the margin 40-26 before a 3-point heave by RJ Cole swished through the nets just before the halftime buzzer sounded to make it a 40-29 Wildcats' lead at intermission.
 
Dixon led VU with 14 points while Gillespie added a dozen points. Among the more notable stats was a 22-6 edge on points scored in the paint by the Wildcats. Chris Arcidiacono helped fill the void created by Moore's absence, logging 12 minutes in the first half (four points and an assist). Martin (10 points) and Cole (nine points) scored 19 of the Huskies' 29 points in the period.
 
The Huskies scored on their first five offensive possessions of the second half to shave the gap to 47-40 three minutes into the period. Part of that was owed to the return of Sanogo, who was limited to eight first half minutes after picking up his second personal foul.
 
A corner 3-pointer by Arcidiacono and a steal and dunk by Caleb Daniels got the lead back to 52-40 for the Wildcats with just under 15 minutes on the second half clock.
 
Villanova expanded its lead to 67-44 before UConn replied with a burst of offense and defensive pressure that twice shrank the margin to 10 points. But four free throws from Daniels and a Slater score with 1:02 to play gave the 'Cats some breathing room at 85-70.
 
"Last year, there were a lot of days in practice when Jeremiah Robinson-Earl couldn't deal with (Dixon)," Wright said. "He was in that learning process, but we saw it last year in practice and this year too. I also think there's so much more in him."
 
The Wildcats are scheduled to play their third game in seven days when they meet St. John's Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (FS1 and Villanova IHeart Radio Network).