No. 11 UConn men’s basketball holds on for sixth straight victory, 78-74, in road matchup at Butler

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UConn veterans Alex Karaban and Hassan Diarra took matters into their own hands down the stretch at Hinkle Fieldhouse as Butler refused to go away in a classic Big East matchup on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis.

The Huskies never trailed in the 78-74 win, though Butler battled back to tie the game with under five minutes to go and fought until the final buzzer. As the Bulldogs hung around, Karaban nailed a 3-pointer, Diarra flipped a floater over his head and Karaban hit again from beyond the arc, pushing UConn’s lead to five with 59 seconds to go. Diarra and freshman Liam McNeeley sealed the victory at the free throw line.

Karaban finished with a game-high 21 points and Diarra had 12 with four rebounds and seven assists. McNeeley starred early and continued to facilitate the UConn offense as he finished with 17 points, five rebounds and a career-best seven assists.

The win, UConn’s sixth straight, gave the 11th-ranked Huskies a 2-0 start to Big East play and improved their mark to 10-3 on the year.

Back in the starting lineup after a concussion early in the Dec. 14 game against Gonzaga, Samson Johnson got going immediately as he scored or assisted on UConn’s first eight points.

McNeeley and Karaban went back-to-back from beyond the arc as the Huskies jumped out to an early 14-2 lead with Butler missing its first six shot attempts. Taking advantage when the Bulldogs went to a zone on the other end, McNeeley nailed his second triple and both Jayden Ross and Aidan Mahaney joined in on the action, pushing the lead to 25-9 with a 5-for-6 start from beyond the arc.

UConn cooled off after its 11-for-14 start from the field, making just one of its next seven shot attempts as Butler – switching back to man-to-man defense – clawed back with buckets inside and cut its deficit to six with under seven minutes to go in the first half.

The Butler comeback was accelerated by 7-footer Andre Screen, who tied his career-high with four blocks in the game’s first 18 minutes. Screen…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-11-uconn-men-basketball-193200915.html

Author : Hartford Courant

Publish date : 2024-12-21 19:32:00

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