Connecticut 81, DePaul 67: Jeremy Lamb scored 25 points as the Huskies began their defense of the Big East tournament championship by handing the Blue Demons another first-round exit.

Ryan Boatright collected 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds off the bench for Connecticut (19-12), which swept through the tournament last season en route to the national championship.

The ninth-seeded Huskies, who lost nine of their final 13 games in the regular season to drop onto the bubble, will try to improve their at-large hopes against No. 8 seed West Virginia on Wednesday.

Connecticut jumped out quickly on Tuesday, knocking down 7 of 9 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half to grab a 46-33 lead at the break.

The Huskies began the second half with a 15-4 burst as Andre Drummond began to take control on the inside. The freshman forward scored eight points during the spurt and finished with 12 points.

The 16th-seeded Blue Demons (12-19), would get as close as 70-61 with 7:20 remaining, but Connecticut pushed it back to double digits and cruised to the finish.

DePaul has not won a Big East tournament game since knocking off Cincinnati in the opening round in 2009.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cleveland Melvin collected 19 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Demons … DePaul shot just 33 percent (23 of 70) from the floor … Connecticut struggled at the free throw line, shooting 11 of 24.