One more game separates the UConn men’s basketball team (21-9, 13-6 Big East) from the Big East Tournament. They will face the Seton Hall Pirates (7-23, 2-18 Big East) on Senior Day at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies are in search of revenge after losing in an inexplicable way in overtime on Feb. 15 at the Prudential Center. In that game, Alex Karaban led the way with 20 points on 7-14 shooting. Despite being a redshirt junior, he will graduate with a degree in Economics in May and go through the Senior Day ceremony. He does have another year of eligibility but has yet to decide if he wants to come back.
“I haven’t thought about that at all,” Karaban said on whether it would be his last game at Gampel Pavilion. “I think more so I’ve been thinking about Seton Hall just because of what happened last game and wanting to beat them.”
Karaban shined in a massive win on Wednesday night. He came alive with a 21-point performance including a massive 3-pointer to give Connecticut a 4-point cushion.
“This is March right now, so you want to play your best basketball no matter what, as a team or individually,” Karaban said. “I do want to get hot. I feel like I’m getting hot right now for March and I want to continue that confidence, continue that level of play right now. Against Marquette was a great game for myself and I need to continue that. I can’t have any setbacks tomorrow, and I can’t have any setbacks in the future if we want to win. So, I’m trying to do everything in my power to help this team win.”
The Pirates are a loss away from finishing last in the Big East Conference. Since stunning UConn in Newark, N.J., Seton Hall has lost five in a row and 19 of their last 21 games. After losing most of their key players due to the transfer portal with little replacement, it did not come off as surprising that they would be in this position.
Samson Johnson had his first career double-double on Wednesday, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Along with Karaban, Johnson will go through Senior Day. It will be his final home game with no eligibility left after this season. He is set to become the first four-year Husky recruited by head coach Dan Hurley to enroll and graduate at UConn. He will graduate with a degree in communications and will leave the program as one of the premiere finishers and most efficient scorers in UConn history.
“He’s one of the best human beings you’ll ever come across,” Hurley said. “He’s just a sweetheart of a guy who just worked his tail off.”
Hurley revealed on Friday that Johnson has been dealing with back spasms and was limited in practice.
Hassan Diarra has improved since the beginning of February and has 15 assists in the last two games combined. Like Johnson, Diarra will go through Senior Day as he plays in his final home game with the Huskies.
“The [Marquette game] was the standard you’re supposed to play, and we haven’t done so until the last game,” Diarra said. “We just have to maintain that and channel that energy.”
There are 32 scenarios left for the Big East Tournament seeding. The best-case scenario for UConn would be the No. 2 seed, which is unlikely but still within reach. If they win, they clinch a top 3 seed, meaning they will play in the night session on Thursday. For the No. 2 seed to fall into the Huskies’ hands, they would need Marquette and Butler to win. It would not matter who wins the Georgetown-DePaul and Providence-Xavier matchups.
Isaiah Coleman has scored 12 points or more in every game since Feb. 8, including 23 points in the first meeting.
Scotty Middleton, who scored the game-winner in the first meeting, is coming off a 12-point performance where he shot 55.6% from the field.
UConn has a commanding 49-24 record against Seton Hall and has not lost at home to the Pirates since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. With fans, the last time Connecticut lost at home to Seton Hall was on March 1, 1997.
The Huskies will wrap up the regular season with tip-off expected for 2:30 p.m. on FOX.