2024 has been a phenomenal year for the Huskies.
The No. 11 UConn men’s basketball team (10-3, 2-0 Big East) held on to a wire-to-wire lead to beat the Butler Bulldogs (7-6, 0-2 Big East) at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
Samson Johnson returned to the starting lineup after missing Wednesday’s overtime win over Xavier due to a concussion suffered during a thrilling victory over then-No. 8 Gonzaga on Dec. 14 in New York City.
He looked like he was never concussed, scoring six of the Huskies’ first eight points, all from point-blank range. Even though his impact on the game was back, his fouling was as well, going to the bench with two fouls with 17:06 left in the first half.
UConn got out to a 14-2 start and already forced Butler head coach Thad Matta to call timeout not even two minutes into the game. It took five minutes before the Bulldogs scored their first field goal on a dunk by Patrick McCaffrey, who got by Solo Ball on a drive.
The Huskies were lethal and could not miss from deep, making five of their first six 3-point attempts, all of which came before the second media timeout. In just the first 20 minutes, they were one short of their number of 3-pointers made on Wednesday night. Overall, the Huskies knocked down 11 treys.
Connecticut led as many as 16 points in the first half before the Bulldogs outscored the Huskies 24-11 to cut the lead to three.
UConn would answer with a 6-0 run over the final 64 seconds of the first half, holding Butler to one made shot out of their last eight attempts.
Alex Karaban led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, including two teardrops in traffic from the Big East logo by the free-throw line. Butler center Andre Screen was a force in the paint with his 7-foot-1 size, blocking four shots and leading the team with nine points in the first 20 minutes.
UConn came out hot offensively to start the second half, going out to a 9-4 start before Matta saw enough and called timeout.
Hassan Diarra was all over the floor for the Huskies and continued his role as the team’s starting point guard. He finished the game with 12 points on 4-8 shooting, dished out seven assists and picked up three steals.
“He’s a great leader,” Hurley said. “He’s a guy just with big-time guts and confidence. You look at in the huddle as a teammate, and you know you’re out there with General Hassan and that we’re going to find a way to win.”
Butler managed to stay in the fight despite being down as many as 14 points in the second half. Screen was a major part of that, with 17 points to lead his team. The Bulldogs forced two UConn timeouts after scoring runs that eventually ended up tying the game at 63 points.
Karaban led all scorers at the end of the game with 21 points, including four of his seven shots from behind the 3-point line.
“It means everything to step up in these moments and to help deliver for the team,” Karaban said. “But at the same time, I’m just glad that we were able to gut it out together and really get that win.”
After not seeing the floor for much of Wednesday night due to committing four fouls, Liam McNeeley proved to the college basketball world again why he is one of the best freshmen in the country. He scored 17 points, handed out seven assists and made all three of his shots from deep.
“He’s in the top 2 or 3 freshmen in the country easily with everything that we ask him to do,” Hurley said, praising his rebounding, his role as a facilitator and his ability to score at all three levels and make winning plays. “He’s just playing great all-around basketball.”
UConn is now 10-0 against the Bulldogs, a series that began with the Huskies winning their third national title in 2011.
The Huskies have wrapped up the calendar year with a six-game winning streak and now head home for the holidays feeling good about where they are heading into 2025. Connecticut will ring in the New Year with a trip to Chicago to take on DePaul.