1/2/2024 basketball Edit

UConn Hoops: Huskies thrash DePaul to celebrate New Year

Stratton Stave • UConnReport

Staff Writer

If you watched the first 10 minutes of UConn men’s basketball’s game against DePaul and turned it off, you’d probably be surprised at the end result. If you were late coming home from work and missed those 10 minutes, you’d think the Huskies picked up right from where they left off against St. John’s and dominated throughout.

In reality, it was somewhere in between. The Huskies closed with a 85-56 blasting of the Blue Demons, but they didn’t start out looking like the No. 4 team in the land. Steph Castle, Alex Karaban and Tristen Newton each turned the ball over and there were a bevy of misses. Nearly three minutes in, no baskets from either side.

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Then the scoring began to trickle in. A Castle layup here, a few Karaban threes there, but DePaul still led by one after a quarter of action. Then the lid came right off the cup for the Huskies.

The entrance of Solo Ball was a godsend for the Huskies, as the freshman hit a 17 footer and a triple to get them ahead for good. Then came Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra, the latter scoring three points the old fashioned way, which he followed with a gorgeous and-one alley oop to Castle. Blink and you may have missed Connecticut’s 16-2 run.

Castle had arguably his best game as a Husky on Tuesday. After needing some time to reacclimate himself after a knee injury, the projected first rounder has been electric the past two games. He threw down a few lobs and let the action come to him, which was a great strategy. Castle’s defense was great, with a block, a steal and very few buckets scored against him.

He would benefit greatly from a more confident three point shot though. He attempted one and missed badly, not trying another. It didn’t hurt the freshman’s overall performance with 14 points and seven dimes, but his halfcourt scoring would be improved if he was able to provide more spacing.

Looking at the team holistically, the offense was blazing and the defense stifling. They shot the ball 22% better than the Blue Demons and allowed a singular free throw. Even playing with one center for the whole game, they still managed to outperform their visitors on the glass by nine. The Huskies also dished out 23 assists to DePaul’s eight, a glaring difference.

“Thought we were much better defensively with the exception of some undisciplined fouling,” Coach Dan Hurley told the media postgame. “Once we got a lead I thought human nature kicked in a little bit. With some of the switching that we had to do with Samson out with fouls in the second half, but overall the defense took some strides today. Obviously like the way we shared the ball, 23 assists. Thought Cam was great, obviously Alex was great, loved what Steph did out there, and Hass off the bench.”

Tristen Newton did his share of getting his teammates involved with seven assists, but he did nothing to add to the scoring effort. His goose egg was the first such performance since January 15 of last year in a loss to St. John’s. It was good for the team that Newton was able to recognize that it wasn’t his night and to start deferring after three shot attempts.

“I’m not smiling because I don’t wanna see our national championship point guard have a scoreless night but it does speak to the strength of who we are,” Hurley said. “A lot of guys that can beat you and balance are what creates successful teams. The key to our success is about balance and it’s not gonna be from just one player.”

Spencer helped close out the half with a layup and a triple, taking the team to a 19 point advantage. Given the way they started, this outcome was relieving, but they still needed to add more separation in the next half.

Spencer did just that, along with his exceptional first period of play. He has his best outing since the UNC victory, adding 20 points and six boards. The grad student was 4-7 from beyond the arc, not surprising given his 46% season mark. With just 20 total points in the team’s first two conference clashes, this should be a solid get-right game.

Speaking of much-needed performances, Karaban broke free in a way he hasn’t been able to do consistently this year. He combined for 44 against UNC and UAPB but managed 29 in the two games since. Scoring 17 points on nine shots must feel good for the sophomore. He’s a piece that needs to be doing well if the team wants to succeed.

Karaban was also stationed at the center position for some extra small ball, which played to his strengths. He rose up for a few strong blocks in a short span and had a third that looked clean but was deemed a foul.

As successful as Karaban was, it was Johnson, who kicked off the second half’s scoring. He used his soft touch on a layup and finished an alley oop on the next play as a part of a strong Husky run. They were whipping the ball around the court and the Blue Demons couldn’t do anything about it.

Diarra helped close out the blowout with a few threes, capping off his best game of the year. He notched 14 points on six shots and had five assists with no turnovers. You’re not going to see this type of efficiency from the senior every time out, but it’s still encouraging to see he’s capable of it. As the team’s backup point guard, he’s a key cog in making sure the team thrives when the starters are resting.

Though the win is nice and counts the same as any other conference victory, none will come this easy. DePaul is a different level of bad and things will toughen up starting Friday when they suit up against 10-3 Butler away.