Storrs — The first real sign of trouble arrived when No. 2 UConn trailed for the first time in the second half all season.

Former Husky Akok Akok’s dunk handed Georgetown a two-point edge with about 16 and a half minutes left.

The Hoyas’ lead and their confidence grew.

Still, there was plenty of time left for the Huskies to respond.

And they did.

In a team on a mission kind of way.

UConn rallied from a seven-point deficit and regained the lead with a dazzling 12-0 run fueled by reserves Joey Calcaterra and Hassan Diarra .

The undefeated Huskies battled their way to an 84-73 victory on Tuesday night in their Big East home opener at Gampel Pavilion.

“We know every game is not going to be a blowout,” senior Tristen Newton said. “This is a true testament to our team how deep we are. These guys (Diarra and Calcaterra) brought a significant spark off the bench that we need to go as far as we want to.”

When challenged, the Huskies (13-0, 2-0) responded as they’ve done all season, kicking into a higher gear. They head into a week-long holiday break with a feel-good win. The Hoyas fell to 5-8, 0-2.

“We had to reach down deep,” coach Dan Hurley said. “We dealt with a second half deficit. We proved that we’re not frontrunners and still ended up winning the game by double figures in a conference game at home.

“You look at them, they’re 5-7 coming into the game. It tells you how tough the league is and how tough college basketball is. They’ve got some really talented players.”

The Huskies extended several streaks, posting their 16th straight win at Gampel and winning by double digits for the 13th game in a row. They’re off to the program’s best start since the 1998-99 season when they opened 19-0 and went on to win the national championship.

Newton led the way with 17 points and seven assists while Jordan Hawkins (15), Adama Sanogo (14) and Calcaterra (14, all in the second half) also scored in double figures. Andre Jackson made an impact all over the court, chipping in seven points, eight assists and eight rebounds.

The Huskies had 24 assists on 30 field goals.

UConn appeared to be in decent shape carrying a 47-40 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Then Georgetown, which went 0-19 in the Big East last season, took charge and built its biggest lead at 60-53. Hurley picked up a technical foul after complaining about a three-second call against the Huskies.

The Hoyas were up 62-56 with 10:31 remaining before the Huskies fought back behind their reserves.

Calcaterra scored on a reverse layup and then threw a nifty behind-the-back pass to set up Donovan Clingan for a dunk to start a pivotal 12-0 run.

“I had to provide a spark,” Calcaterra said. “Things were going a little slow for the overall team.”

When Diarra’s driving basket and 3-pointer put the Huskies in front for good, 65-62, the crowd roared its approval and a fired up Hurley turned toward the stands and frantically waved his arms.

“It felt amazing,” Diarra said of the run. “It was truly crazy just to tie the game up and then take the lead. The crowd was amazing. I was flabbergasted by the crowd. I loved it.”

Calcaterra’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 68-62. He also injected some much-needed energy along with Diarra and Clingan.

“Those three guys were the difference in that stretch,” Hurley said.

The Hoyas never got closer than three the rest of the way.

The once riveting rivalry has turned lopsided in UConn’s favor, as it won for the fifth straight time in the series. The Hoyas haven’t won a Big East regular season game since the 2020-21 season.

But it was far from easy.

And, in a way, that’s a good thing for the Huskies.

“It was good to be in some huddles where there was a little soul searching,” Hurley said.

Akok, who spent three years at UConn before transferring to Georgetown, received a nice ovation when starting lineups were announced and finished with 10 points. Windsor High School graduate Primo Spears had 19.

Early on, the teams engaged in a shootout, which suited offensive-minded but defensively challenged Georgetown just fine.

Akok hit his first shot, a 3-pointer from the corner to help jump-start the Hoyas. He also made an impressive block of a Hawkins dunk attempt. Hawkins was shaken up after crashing to the floor.

The score remained close and the Hoyas led 25-23 with about seven minutes left.

Coming out of a timeout, UConn turned it up a notch. Jackson buried a three but got called for a technical foul for trash talking after sinking the shot.

The Huskies kept attacking.

Hawkins and Sanogo converted back-to-back threes for a 42-35 edge.

Newton, an offensive spark in the first half, drained two free throws to hand the Huskies a seven-point edge at halftime.

Chances are that defense was a hot topic of conversation in the UConn locker room at halftime. The Hoyas shot 53.3 percent before the break.

Overall, Hurley was unhappy about his team’s defense and rebounding. The Hoyas finished shooting 45.8 percent and had a 40-28 edge on the boards.

“We didn’t have the disruption on the defensive end,” Hurley said. “We allowed them to get way too comfortable. And then rebounding, that rarely happens to us. We got out of character on some things. Credit those guys.

“… This was great for this to happen to us because we did get away from our identity.”

g.keefe@theday.com