It’s been tough sledding for the No. 19 UConn men’s basketball team as of late. The wins haven’t felt easy and the losses have been mounting. After winning eight straight games, Connecticut has dropped three of their last six, all without freshman phenom Liam McNeeley. These defeats are especially jarring given the way the Huskies drubbed almost all their competition last year and towards the end of the year before.
In isolation, losing at Xavier isn’t the end of the world. Xavier is firmly on the bubble and good teams have been losing unranked home games all season. However, the vibe of this one was not where it could have been.
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During their 76-72 loss, the Huskies missed 19 of their 26 tries from beyond the arc, turned the ball over 13 times and couldn’t convert on 4 important free throws. The stats themselves don’t tell a story of any terrible discrepancies, but the time when the errors were made exacerbated them.
Perhaps most notable was the foul trouble. Call it bad defense, vindictive referees or whatever, fouls were an issue throughout the second half. UConn had Xavier in the double bonus before the second period was halfway through and committed 22 fouls on the night.
This had an impact on Alex Karaban, who was tagged with his fourth midway through the second half. This ruined his flow and he fouled out not too long after returning to the contest. Karaban did not have a productive night, scoring 9 points on 13 shots.
Solo Ball’s electric first half saw him score 13 points (4/7 FG), but he managed just 7 (2/10 FG) in the second. It was also a much better rebounding game for the sophomore, snagging a career-best 11 boards. Ball had the chance to take the lead with a corner three in the waning seconds of the game, but couldn’t convert. It was his sixth straight missed triple in a game that got worse as it went.
That missed shot was corralled by Hassan Diarra, and despite a timeout, UConn couldn’t avoid a shot clock violation. The ball was still in Jayden Ross’ hands as he went for the tie.
Though Diarra didn’t have his best game (12-5-8), he still played fine. Backup guard Aidan Mahaney had a much better outing offensively than usual, with 14 points on 7 attempts. Mahaney netted both of his threes in late clock desperation situations, which might have helped with his tendency to overthink. While he was the team’s second leading scorer, his defense, along with Ball’s, still leaves much to be desired. This game was still a step in the right direction.
Samson Johnson played well too, especially effective in the paint. He rocked the rim on a few dunks, while also notching a career-best 5 blocks. He finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds, limiting his fouling.
The first half was spent by the Huskies consistently trying to prevent the Musketeers from blowing them out, getting down multiple possessions then making it close again. 8 late first half points from Mahaney delivered UConn a halftime lead, but that didn’t last long.
Early in the second, Xavier went on an 8-0 run, pushing them ahead by 8 points. Connecticut tried, but ultimately failed, to come back from that knockout blow. Zach Freemantle scored the Musketeers’ last field goal of the game with an and-one, as the Huskies stormed back to trail by 2. Despite a Ross dunk in the fastbreak and a flurry of free throws from Mahaney and Ball, the Huskies came up empty at the end.
Again, losing this game isn’t the end of the world, especially with McNeeley still out and Xavier’s spot on the bubble. The Huskies need McNeeley back soon though so they can figure things out in time. In 2023’s January slog, this is around the time the pieces began to click.
They need a confidence boost and there’s no better opponent to do it with than DePaul. The Blue Demons did win their first conference game since 2023 recently, but haven’t been impressive otherwise. UConn needs a convincing win. Their chance to do so comes back in Hartford, CT, tipping at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
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