In their first game back at Gampel Pavilion since Dec. 9th, the UConn men’s basketball team returned to Storrs in style as they cruised to a blowout win over the DePaul Blue Demons, 85-56.
With this being the first game of 2024 and Connecticut’s first matchup since a narrow Dec. 23rd win over St. John’s, the program certainly had a few hiccups early. They were unable to gain much of a lead as Alex Karaban was the only player making multiple baskets for the Huskies. But, that changed with 8:28 to go. After a jumper from freshman Solo Ball, he’d grab a huge three-point jumper to give his squad a four-point lead.
From there, DePaul never had control of the basketball game. Despite multiple different defensive schemes from Blue Demons coach Tony Stubblefield, UConn made easy work of the looks they were given and took advantage. A flashy two-handed dunk from Karaban gave the Huskies a 19-11 lead, but if fans thought that play was incredible, they had yet to reach the peak play of the night. That moment would come soon after as with 6:25 to go in the first, Hassan Diarra threw an alley-oop pass to freshman guard Stephon Castle for an insane and-one jam.
It looked more like the team that fans have grown accustomed to throughout the season as every member of the Huskies played their role. Diarra was effective on both ends of the court. Cam Spencer was knocking down jumpers from beyond the arc. Samson Johnson looked impressive as a defender in the paint.
But, perhaps the best part was how Connecticut operated without their star big man Donovan Clingan. That meant players like Castle really had to step into their role for this team and the Huskies star freshman certainly did so. His all-around impact that included thunderous dunks and strong defensive effort was crucial in helping UConn jump out to a 38-19 lead at the end of the first half. Tuesday evening was a massive step for a player that this program will need huge minutes from come tournament time.
With the momentum from the first half, Connecticut played the second half without much resilience from the Blue Demons. Despite 19 points from Da’Sean Nelson and 17 points from Elijah Fisher, Stubblefield’s squad couldn’t carve out much of an answer to the play of Dan Hurley’s Huskies. After four early points on a layup and alley-oop dunk from Johnson, the Blue Demons defense still looked lackluster as Connecticut continued to look fearless on the offensive end.
Throughout the game and into the second half, the team continued to use a version of their four-guard lineup that featured Karaban as the big. That lineup was successful in giving the Blue Demons trouble and with Clingan continuing to rehab from injury, it’s certainly going to be needed.
“Steph <Castle> can obviously guard 4’s. We have bigger guards and obviously, we had a fair amount of shooting on the court. You had Alex on the court with Cam, Solo and T-New. So there’s a lot of shooting on the court and you become tough to guard when you have so much shooting. There’s a lot of opportunities to drive the ball,” said Hurley.
Along with that lineup, the program also gave extra minutes to a group of their freshmen, including Jaylin Stewart who registered an even 10 minutes of action. According to Hurley, he was trying to get the Seattle native in within the first eight minutes, but the team struggled to find its footing early.
“It just wouldn’t have been a good point to put him into. But you can see the instincts are there, the passing and the ability to do some things. He’s a really talented player. He’s going to be a great player at UConn if we just keep him fighting and keep him trusting,” said Hurley.
While there were plenty of players to credit for the Huskies’ massive win over DePaul, what stood out to Connecticut’s head coach wasn’t one particular player. It was instead about his collective unit.
“The key to our success is balance. It’s not about any one player,” said Hurley.
While there were certainly some bumps in the road at the very beginning, it ended up in a blowout, and the No. 4 team in the nation will certainly have plenty of positives to eye as they head on a two-game Big East road trip to Butler and Xavier. With the grueling nature of these conference road games, there will certainly be plenty to talk about with Huskies basketball.