STORRS, Conn. -- Former UConn star James Bouknight of the Charlotte Hornets was tossed from his courtside seat by a game official in the second half as the No. 24 Huskies held off Xavier 72-61.
Bouknight, who played two seasons for Connecticut and is an NBA rookie, was sitting in the front row opposite the Xavier bench when he was asked to leave.
Bouknight then moved to the UConn student section.
"That was not an ideal scenario because we were playing bad and kind of melting down a bit," UConn coach Dan Hurley said. "He got tossed. I didn't really see what happened. And then I saw him again somewhere near the student section."
R.J. Cole and Tyler Polley both scored 16 points for UConn (19-7, 10-5 Big East), which has won four of its last five games. Adama Sanogo had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Xavier (17-9, 7-8), which has lost four of five, was led by Adam Kunkel's 15 points. Zach Freemantle added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Playing before a raucous, sold-out crowd for the second straight game, the Huskies hit 52% of their shots and took a 17-point lead at halftime before withstanding a second-half surge from the Musketeers.
UConn is 7-0 this season in Gampel Pavilion, its on-campus arena.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.