A season full of "almost" continued Wednesday night for Xavier men's basketball.

Xavier took a brief lead in the second half against No. 4 UConn at Cintas Center, but the Musketeers' upset bid evaporated over the final 10-plus minutes of regulation and UConn pulled away for a 80-75 victory.

More: KenPom analysis: What challenges lie ahead for Xavier Musketeers in Big East gauntlet?

Xavier (7-8) falls below .500 for the first time since it was 4-5 after falling to Delaware on Dec. 5., 2023, Xavier is now 1-3 in Big East Conference play.

"It's a loss. We're in January. There is no such thing as moral victories in January," Quincy Olivari said.

5 thoughts on Xavier Musketeers' Big East loss to UConn Huskies

1. UConn's 3-point barrage quieted Cintas early

With the students back from Christmas break, Cintas Center had as much pregame energy as it had in any game this season, comparable to the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout in December. That was air quickly dispersed from that balloon as UConn came out on fire from the perimeter, connecting on its first three 3-point attempts and 6-of-8 overall.

UConn shoots from beyond the arc 42.1% of the time and the national champs stuck to their bread and butter behind redshirt sophomore Alex Karaban and grad student Cam Spencer. That duo combined for five 3-pointers and 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting in the first half to give UConn a 40-35 lead at the break.

2. Technical foul gave Xavier momentum

UConn took its biggest lead of the game at 32-22 after a Karaban bucket before Xavier made its first momentous run of the night. The Musketeers attacked the offensive glass and a Nemeiksa offensive rebound led to a brief scrum and a technical foul on UConn freshman Jaylin Stewart. Xavier freshman Trey Green proceeded to knock down two from the charity stripe to ignite a 13-3 Xavier run to tie it at the 2:52 mark.

The spurt was highlighted by a Quincy Olivari 3-pointer with 4:15 remaining, which was Xavier's first trey of the night after starting 0-for-5. Olivari had a pair of three-point plays and led the Musketeers with 13 at the intermission.

3. UConn pulled away in second half

Like UConn did in the first half, Xavier, which had struggled out of the half during certain spots this year, broke is 3-point struggles. The Musketeers started 4-for-4 from downtown with connections from Nemeiksa, Desmond Claude (twice) and Green.

Green's 3-pointer at the 15:38 mark gave Xavier its only lead of the game at 52-51 and forced a Danny Hurley timeout. The Huskies had an answer for the momentous run and held Xavier to just two made field goals over the next 12 minutes. UConn's 25-10 run in that span was enough to hold off a late rally by the Musketeers.

"We had a hard time running back in transition," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. "I thought they had 8, 10, 12 points in a flurry that had everything to do with their transition game and our inability to get back. That's on us. That's one thing you can control."

UConn guard Hassan Diarra scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including an uncontested layup and a wide-open 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions after Xavier misses to give UConn a 70-60 lead.

"They shouldn't be able to break the game open the way they did against us," Miller said. "I thought that was the biggest disappointment in the game for us. It can't happen. If a couple guys are jogging back, it's a lack of effort, that's unacceptable."

Xavier finished just 35.9% from the field and 7-of-21 from deep. UConn had five players in double figures led by Spencer (19) and Newton (16). The Huskies shot 54.4%, hit 11 triples and assisted on 27 of their 30 made field goals.

4. Xavier can build off rebounding success

Miller stressed the importance of Xavier being able to rebound after second-chance opportunities doomed Xavier's chances in two of its first three Big East games.

Xavier was the aggressor on the glass Wednesday night, though it didn't translate to the win column. Xavier outrebounded UConn 42-30, grabbing 20 offensive boards and limiting UConn to just 9 second-chance points.

Though a good night rebounding, the killer was that Xavier could only turn 20 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.

"It's hard to score 15 points on 20 second shots," Miller said. "You get fouled, you kick it for a 3, you put it back up and score. That's a little deceiving there."

UConn was the sixth opponent Xavier has faced this season that ranks in the top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage. The Musketeers are 3-3 in those games.

5. Xavier fought until the final whistle

Xavier went down swinging against the defending national champions. Olivari scored nine of Xavier's 11 points in the final three minutes and his baseline jumper with 15.1 seconds left trimmed the UConn lead to 78-75. Xavier was forced to foul, and Newton iced the game by making two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining.

Olivari led all scorers with 24 points and has now scored 20-plus in four consecutive home games. Claude (15) and Nemeiksa (10) were also in double figures for Xavier. Abou Ousmane had 9 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, eight on the offensive end.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What we learned from Xavier Musketeers' loss to No. 4 UConn Huskies