Paige Bueckers leads UConn to Big East title: 'They have all the pieces to win it all'

Let's face it: Geno Auriemma is not an excuse-maker, but his team has been far from full strength over the last four years. So, as the confetti fell down from the rafters at Mohegan Sun Arena for a fifth consecutive year in celebration of UConn's Big East Tournament championship, the program's 23rd overall, this one felt different.

"They're playing as well as anyone in America right now," FOX Sports analyst Kim Adams said in reference to the No. 3-ranked Huskies during the broadcast. "They have all the pieces to win it all."

The Huskies' talent was on full display Monday night as they put together a two-hour clinic that resulted in a 70-50 win over a Creighton team that is an NCAA Tournament lock and entered the game with a 26-6 record. 

Jim Flanery, whose Creighton team had already lost to UConn twice this season by a combined 30 points heading into Monday night's conference title game, said that the margin for error for his team was "slim to none," and that "we'd have to be perfect." 

Just four minutes into the game, it was 11-0 Connecticut, thanks in large part to a defense that has been outstanding over the last month and is the biggest strength of the team right now. The Huskies rank fourth in the country, allowing just 51.9 points per game, and hold the nation's best scoring margin at +29. UConn held both St. John's and Villanova to just two points in a quarter in their respective quarterfinal and semifinal victories. 

What was missing in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds showed up in the final, though, with UConn shooting 8-of-15 from 3-point territory in the first half and leading 40-22 at the break. The Huskies had shot just over 26% from downtown in their previous two Big Ten Tournament games.

But the