UConn men’s basketball took down UCLA in their Round of 32 matchup in Philly, 73-57, after a masterclass from Alex Karaban, who posted a career-high 27 points. The 2-seeded Huskies will play Michigan State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in Washington DC.
Karaban was on from the start, finishing 9-for-16 from the field. Braylon Mullins got out of his shooting slump with 17 points. Tarris Reed Jr. followed up his monster first-round performance with 10 points and 13 rebounds. For the Bruins, Xavier
Booker led the way with 13 points, and Dailey finished with 12 points. The stifling Huskies’ defense held Trent Perry to just 5 points on 2-for-8 shooting.
You couldn’t ask for a better game for a Karaban takeover. The captain had the best game of his career. He was more assertive than we’ve seen in the past, nailing triples left and making sure the Huskies responded to any UCLA run.
Jayden Ross also played a crucial role in the victory effort. He was everywhere on the floor, finishing with 11 points and a +/- of +15. His two three-pointers gave the Huskies momentum Sunday night in the first half.
Solo Ball went scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting and was a -10 overall. A majority of his shots were open looks; he just couldn’t get them to fall.
After missing the Furman game, Silas Demary Jr. came off the bench and played 22 minutes, finishing with 2 points and 4 assists. Malachi Smith got his second consecutive start, dishing out six assists and holding it down defensively as the Huskies did a good job against the Bruins’ talented perimeter players. Demary made his return at the 14-minute mark in the first half. Jaylin Stewart was also active Sunday after not playing since Feb. 21.
UConn started out slow, picking up two early turnovers to allow UCLA to hold an early lead. Karaban got UConn on the board with a dunk on a nice pass from Ball. Booker responded on the other end with an alley-oop jam from Dent. Reed attracted attention from Bruin defenders after his monster performance Friday night. The junior was getting double-teamed early on and sent a cross-court pass to Karaban, who nailed the first Husky triple of the night.
Solo Ball picked up two fouls before the midway point of the half. Jayden Ross once again filled his role, giving key defensive stops and creating extra possessions for the Huskies.
UCLA pushed ahead for an 18-12 lead before Karaban hit another triple to put him up to 11 points. He was the only one to make a field goal until the 7:39 mark as UConn started 2-of-10 from downtown. Mullins continued to struggle from deep, going 0-for-3 in the first dozen minutes, before he picked it up.
Ross hit a three-pointer to even the game at 20 and stayed hot, hitting another three to give UConn its first lead of the night. On the next UConn possession, he was fouled on a three and hit all three free throws, quickly reaching nine points. Booker was key to the Bruins’ first-half success, as he got out to a 12-point, 4-for-4 start.
Mullins got on the board on a smooth midrange jumper with 4 minutes to go. Dan Hurley was ecstatic seeing his freshman guard break the ice in what has been a pitiful last few games. Eric Reibe got crucial minutes early on as well, as Reed picked up 2 fouls. He was in the right spots on both sides of the court, a key reason why UCLA did not make a field goal for a 5-minute stretch.
On the offensive end, he had a sweet jam and a contested layup to get to 4 points. Mullins nailed his first triple of the tournament at the 2:40 mark after starting out 0-for-11 in the tournament. Hurley once again was hyped up after the play. Just a few minutes later, he buried another from a few feet behind the line to force a UCLA timeout.
The Huskies went into halftime with a 38-33 lead. Karaban, Ross, and Mullins helped them build the lead. The Bruin’s playmaking guard Donovan Dent was held in check at just 2-for-7 from the field. The nine UConn turnovers in that first half kept UCLA in the game.
UCLA started off the second half on a 6-0 run led by Trent Perry and Dailey to regain the lead. Karaban had to change his approach. He drove to the rim through traffic, which got him to the line and he made a pair of free throws. The senior captain stayed aggressive, willing the Huskies to victory as he scored their first eight points of the second half.
The Huskies opened it up with a jumper by Mullins to make up for the turnover and Karaban’s third three-pointer to take a 51-44 lead. The packed Xfinity Mobile Arena was electric, as the U-C-O-N-N chant from the fans as UCLA called a timeout. The defense ignited the run, as the Bruins were held to just 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the half. Reed hit his first field goal on a hook shot to go up 53-44.
Karaban extended the run to 14-0 as he hit his 4th triple from downtown, getting himself to a season high, 25 points. UCLA stopped the bleeding with a quick 5-0 run capped off by a Dailey triple, forcing Hurley to call a timeout after the Bruins went over six minutes without a field goal.
The 9-minute mark was pitiful for Ball; he missed an open three on the next possession and missed two threes with nobody near him. The second miss put the Bruins in transition as Dailey drove on Ball, who fouled the junior for an and-one, extending the UCLA run to 8-0, to make it a 58-54 ballgame. Hurley subbed Ball out for Smith, who traveled on his first possession on the court to really give the momentum to UCLA at the under-8-minute timeout.
Mullins was fouled on a triple and knocked down all three free throws to go back up 61-54. A UConn stop led to a transition flush from Ross, allowing them to go back up 9.
Karaban, on the other end, swatted Perry going up for a layup. Mick Cronin disagreed with the officiating and received a technical. Karaban hit both free throws to give him a new career high of 27 points as he encouraged Husky fans to get loud in the final minutes. Mullins got an easy layup after the technical, going up 13, good enough to make it a 9-0 run with 4 minutes to play. Reed got in on the action as Ross hit him while cutting, and he slammed it home, giving the big man his 12th double-double of the season.
UConn gets an unfortunate tip time; 9:45 Friday night, and the winner will face Duke or St. John’s in the Elite Eight.
