LAS VEGAS — Lousy accommodations. Thieves hitting the team bus. A three-time All-American who may be the best-known Travelin’ Man since Ricky Nelson.

Is there anything this Connecticut men’s basketball team can’t overcome?

The fourth-seeded Huskies hit it big in Sin City, something few can claim on their first trip, burying third-seeded Gonzaga 82-54 Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional at T-Mobile Arena and returning to the Final Four for the first time since 2014 when they beat Kentucky for their fourth national title. And they did it with timely scoring, tenacious defense and enough depth to bury the Bulldogs, who needed more than Drew Timme and were unable to find that support.

Timme, as several pundits have pointed out, has the Euro-step mastered, and then some. UCLA fans were howling over how many steps he was able to take in going to the basket that went uncalled in Gonzaga’s 79-76 win over the Bruins in Thursday’s Sweet 16.

You can’t convince me that the officials weren’t on the lookout Saturday for Timme’s fancy footwork around the paint. He got called for steps twice in the first half and it seemed to get him off his game. But there was no denying that once he picked up his third personal foul 25 seconds into the second half and a fourth foul less than two minutes later, it definitely impacted him and his team.

He would leave the court as a collegian for the final time with 1:58 to go to a standing ovation from the Gonzaga fans among the 18,119 in attendance. Timme finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes. 

“We can say ‘What if?’ The bottom line is they were the better team,” Timme said afterward. “They made shots. They won the 50-50 balls. They were just better.”  

But while Gonzaga coach Mark Few reflected and celebrated the career of one of the best players to ever play for him, Saturday was all about UConn. Dan Hurley may have some Jim Boeheim in him when it comes to working the officials, but the guy knows how to coach. He obviously picked up a few things along the way from his old man, Hall of Famer Bob Hurley Sr., who was there with Dan’s brother Bobby, the Arizona State head coach, to watch the Huskies put on a half-court basketball clinic.

UConn runs such beautiful sets. And when you mix in the 3-point shooting (the Huskies knocked down 11 treys Saturday), 21 assists against just eight turnovers, well, there simply aren’t many teams in the country that are going to shut them down. UConn rarely beats itself.

Gonzaga, which is a very good team, had no shot once it fell behind by double digits late in the first half and trailed at intermission, 39-32. And when you make just 2 of 20 3-pointers, well, your fate is sealed and even the College of Cardinals can say enough Hail Marys to get you off the hook. Connecticut led by as many as 33 points with 3:48 to play.

Let’s put it this way, Dan Hurley has come a long way since his days at Wagner College on Staten Island.

To the Huskies’ credit, they never let any of the off-the-court incidents in their first trip to Las Vegas distract them. As Hurley said on Friday: “The Big East toughens you up when you have minor inconveniences.”

It never hurts when you win. It eases a lot of pain and Hurley had no complaints Saturday about Las Vegas or T-Mobile Arena.

“I think it’s all good for us,” he said. “We’re pretty comfortable here because we’re all from the city. We’re all city people, right? So we’re very comfortable in a city that’s got a lot of life to it. And people got a lot of pop here. So we liked it.

“Awesome. The Strip, bright lights, incredible arena. Maybe the nicest arena, nicest arena besides Gampel and the XL (Center) that we played in this year. The crowds were awesome. The people were super friendly. Everyone treated us great. It’s just been an awesome trip.”

And while the NCAA takes credit (blame?) for having to move the team from the Luxor to Resorts World and perhaps someone should’ve been watching the bus while the team practiced at UNLV, the fact is the Huskies, who will play the winner of Sunday’s Texas-Miami game in the national semifinals next Saturday in Houston, never lost their focus. They played with a toughness and unselfishness that usually results in being the last team standing. And if you want to bet against UConn next week, do so at your own peril.

“It feels good,” said UConn guard Andre Jackson. “Definitely we put in a lot of work to get here. And we just have the first — actually the last two years they didn’t even have us in the Top-25. “We got a lot to prove. We still have a chip on our shoulder.

We had a goal to make to it the Final Four, but more importantly, to win a national championship. That’s what we’re still pushing towards.”

They came to Vegas and left town flush with the nets cut down from T-Mobile, the West Regional trophy and the respect of the entire basketball world. It may not be as good as hitting Megabucks, but it’s pretty damn close.