The UConn men’s basketball team had a successful 2023, winning their fifth national championship, and of course getting off to a red hot start this go around, ranking fourth in the country. The Huskies kept last year’s momentum rolling on the road Friday improving to 13-2 on the season with their 88-81 win over Butler.
Despite the final score, It was not all sunshine and rainbows for Connecticut. The Huskies struggled early and often in the first half of Friday night’s contest. It seemed like they couldn’t do anything right, missing open looks, turning the ball over and getting torched in the defensive end. Alex Karaban and Samson Johnson both picked up two first-half fouls, causing both big men to miss extended time. Due to the pair’s foul trouble, the “small ball” lineup was called upon to make up time, which was a big reason as to why UConn failed to out rebound their Big East rivals in the first half.
The Huskies have struggled to meet their pre-season expectations in terms of the three ball, and their first-half performance proved to be no exception. As a unit they shot 4-13 from downtown, and it’s hard to not attribute their shooting struggles from beyond the arc to their shot selection. All too often the Huskies would have a chance in transition, take a deep, off balanced, contested three and miss. It didn’t get any better for Connecticut on the defensive end, as the program was just as bad on the other side of the ball.
Early on, UConn was slow on their rotations and utilized unnecessary double teams, and because of that they got torched, with the main culprit being their performance against the screen. Time and time again the Huskies were unable to play effective help defensive which led to either a Bulldogs pick and pop or slam.
A major reason why Butler led by seven at the end of the first half was due to Connecticut inability to capitalize on offense. They had no answer for the Bulldog defense, as their nine first-half turnovers indicated. A significant reason why Butler’s lead didn’t balloon to double digits was because of the way Johnson performed. Despite picking up a pair of fouls, the 6-foot-10 big man made his presence felt in the first 20 minutes, shooting an efficient 3-3, grabbing four boards and picking up a pair of blocks down low. His performance on the defensive end was also something of note, as Butler’s starting center, Jalen Thomas, failed to come away with a single first-half rebound, albeit only playing seven minutes due to early foul trouble.
The second half was a different story for the UConn men. The defensive effort improved, the shots started to fall and Karaban put on an offensive clinic. Karaban fouled out with nearly 2 minutes left, but not before scoring 20 points on 7-10 shooting, including 4-6 from downtown and 2-3 from the charity stripe. The Massachussits native put the program on his back in the second half, scoring 15 in the final 20-minutes. The 6-foot-8 forward not only lit up the scoreboard but gave the program much needed life, as his offensive outburst was contagious to everyone. As a unit the Connecticut men improved to 6-13 from three and 13-16 from the free throw line, a stark contrast from the first 20 minutes. UConn also exploded for 53 second-half points. They dribbled the ball less, which helped them thwart the Butler zones, and find an open man, either through an open jumper or someone cutting to the basket.
Cam Spencer struggled to find his mark from beyond the arc, finishing 2-7 from three. However, the veteran guard was an efficient 6-11 from the field and hit the dagger trey-ball, making it a three possession game with under a minute left. For the rest of the night, Butler was forced to foul off the inbound, sending Hassan Diarra and Tristen Newton to the free throw line. The pair went a combined 5-6 from the line, sealing UConn’s third Big East win.
Friday was an encouraging performance from the Huskies, although it was far from perfect. Connecticut failed to get out of the gates quickly and if it wasn’t for the second half performance of Karaban there is a real question mark as to how this game would have panned out. The Huskies improve to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in-conference. UConn will return to the hardwood on Jan. 10 to face Xavier on the road.