The damage has been done to the UConn men’s basketball team. After dropping three straights in the Maui Invitational and blowing out the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the program looks ahead to its first-ranked matchup of the year against the Baylor Bears. This Big East Big-12 matchup has all the billings to be nothing short of a classic, as the Huskies look to get back to their winning ways at home, and Baylor poises to spoil the back-to-back national champions Gampel Pavilion homecoming.
Perhaps the biggest headline heading into Wednesday’s matchup against Baylor is the status of Alex Karaban. The redshirt junior is not only the unquestioned leader of this program but is excellent every time he steps onto the hardwood. Unfortunately, Karaban suffered a concussion on Nov. 27th against Dayton in Maui, though he was cleared to fly back with the team. After Tuesday’s practice, head coach Dan Hurley offered a status update for the two-time national champion.
“Injury-wise, [Karaban] is out,” he said. “Not sure about the weekend, but definitely out for [Wednesday].”
With Karaban out, the program will need to improve its defense drastically. The guards have struggled to contain their one-on-one matchups and as a result, the centers have had to help constantly. This had led to Samson Johnson either mauling his men or the guards finding a shooter open in the corner where no Connecticut defender has rotated to and this was the formula that led to the Huskies’ demise a week ago. For a program as talented as Baylor, this is an unsustainable defensive practice, and Connecticut will need to be better, especially considering who the Bears do bring.
As is the case with most of the Huskies’ opponents, the guard play is excellent, with Baylor as no exception. Jeremy Roach is a player the program will want to watch some film on. The fifth-year Virginia native spent his first four years in Durham, NC, where he was a serviceable guard with the Duke Blue Devils. He is currently amid a solid 2024-2025 campaign, averaging a little more than 13 points a night on 44% shooting in 33 minutes of work. Jayden Nunn could also be a thorn in the Huskies’ side, as he is averaging nearly the same stats but on even more efficient shooting, including a three-point percentage hovering around 45%. The amount of space that Nunn, among other Baylor players, gets to shoot the deep ball could very well tell the story on Wednesday, as this was the direct consequence of Connecticut’s defensive struggles in Maui. While not a threat from deep, a player that Hurley and the coaching staff will want to watch out for is Norchard Omer, who is averaging a 16-point 10 rebound double-double per night. Considering that Karaban is out, and the Huskies aren’t performing on the boards at the high level they would like, they will need Tarris Reed Jr. to continue leading the program in that regard.
As advertised, Reed Jr. has been a bright spot on the boards, averaging nine rebounds a night off the bench in 20 minutes of work. In fact, according to KenPom, Reed Jr. ranks near the top of the country in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, which is a testament to the force on the boards he has been, which is another reason why Connecticut cannot get into foul trouble. Despite Reed Jr.’s success in this department, there are still opportunities for the big man to improve, and Hurley told the media how much better of a player Reed Jr. can be when he does the little things better.
“[Reed Jr.] has the potential to make an even greater impact, to play more minutes,” Hurley told reporters on Tuesday. “There’s watching a game from a fan’s perspective, and then there’s actually, you know, when you go back and watch a game, and you see the things that if he did better, [Reed Jr.] could give us an awesome tandem at center.”
As a whole, the UConn offense has been excellent, ranking No. 6 in the country in offensive efficiency. However, the defense has been less than desirable, ranking 85th in the country at the time of writing. Despite this, Hurley believes the program can improve defensively, though it may take some time since they are so young.
“We’re a team that’s probably going to improve more than a lot of other teams that are really old and really developed. Right now, some teams are better than us that I think probably six weeks from now, two months from now we’re going to be better than,” Hurley told media personnel. “I think I got to give the players grace, and I got to try to instill confidence in them, and I can’t coach them frustrated, and we can’t coach them frustrated or disappointed because it’s a group that’s going to get better.”
As big of a test as the Huskies’ three-day MTE in Hawaii was, their matchup this Wednesday will be an even greater challenge. Connecticut has faced a setback for the first time in a long time, and a big win against a top-tier program like Baylor will put the Huskies right back into the swing of things as the competition only ramps up from here on out, with Big East play looming in the near horizon.