The UConn men’s basketball team came into Omaha, Nebraska on a roll. Winning 14 straight,
including their recent 81-53 thrashing of No. 4 Marquette, many Husky fans chalked up Tuesday
night to be another signature win for the program in a hostile environment. However, UConn’s
matchup against the No. 15 Creighton Bluejays did not go as planned, falling short 85-66 on the
road.
Connecticut came out of the gates sluggish, struggling to establish the three ball and finishing 1-
7 in that regard. Conversely, Creighton put up an absurd 8-15 first-half clip. The discrepancy of
the three-ball told the story of this game for all 40 minutes. The program failed to find a first-half
offensive weapon outside of Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan.
Newton put together a solid first half, dropping 10 points on 4-10 shooting. The veteran guard
also grabbed six of the program’s 17 first-half half-rebounds. As for Clingan, the Bristol native
put up a respectable 6 points on 3-5 shooting with 4 first-half boards. Despite the duo’s solid
first-half performance, it was the contributions of Creighton’s Steven Ashworth that told the story
of the first half.
The senior guard was the Husky killer Tuesday night, scoring 16 points on 5-9 shooting,
including 4-8 from beyond the arc. Connecticut also struggled to put together buckets and
lacked the defensive intensity they had demonstrated throughout conference play. As a result,
Creighton closed out the first half on an outrageous 25-8 run. In the blink of an eye, the top dogs
of college basketball found themselves on the ropes — 14 points behind.
The second half was more of the same story for Connecticut, although this time, it was the
heroics of Baylor Schierman that sealed the upset for the Bluejays. The veteran guard scored
12 second-half points on 3-6 shooting, including a perfect 5-5 showing from the charity stripe.
Despite the tough loss on the road, Newton put together an All-American-esque performance.
The El Paso native led all players with 27 points and 12 rebounds. His performance alone was
why UConn’s Tuesday night loss was not more of a blowout than it already was.
While this was a tough pill for Husky fans to swallow, this loss is not the end of the world for the
program. As it sits, they own a three-game lead over both Marquette and Creighton in the Big
East standings. The University of North Carolina, the team mocked behind UConn in March
Madness seeding, has suffered some poor losses. Their most notable defeat came on Jan.
30th, falling short 74-73 to Kenpom No. 138 Georgia Tech.
Again, while this loss won’t blow up the Huskies season, there were some things that the
program needs to clean up. Their defensive presence was nonexistent for the majority of the
game, and while the Bluejays shot lights out from deep, a good portion of their threes were
uncontested.
Similarly, Connecticut’s offense lacked a scoring threat outside of Newton — not the best
combination on the road against a quad 1 opponent. Alex Karaban had an off night, scoring
seven points on 2-7 shooting. Cam Spencer also struggled to make his usual impact, finishing
3-8 from the field. Not to mention, the UConn bench failed to make its usual impact, scoring four
points as a unit. The Connecticut reserve was handicapped for a large part of the game, as
backup big man Samson Johnson sat most of Tuesday’s contest with foul trouble. Clingan also
finished with three fouls, albeit in 26 minutes and 12 points in that span.
This was a tough loss on the road for the program. Many key figures from the Huskies had an
off night, and the program had no answer for the Bluejays three ball. This is a game that the
program cannot dwell over, and they must look ahead to this Saturday as a chance to bounce
back strong. Connecticut has an opportunity to rebound on a high note from this loss, hosting
the Villanova Wildcats this Saturday at Gampel Pavillion as they attempt the season sweep.