Before the UConn men’s basketball team could take the court late Thursday night for their Big East Quarterfinal matchup against the Villanova Wildcats, the Huskies were forced, along with the rest of the basketball world, to witness an all-out double overtime war between the Creighton Bluejays and DePaul Blue Demons that lasted over two and a half hours. This was a contest that was nothing short of weird. With massive runs and threes from both sides, it felt like this contest would rival the infamous 6-OT game between the Huskies and Syracuse 16 years ago in this tournament. However, at 10:18 p.m., Connecticut finally hit the court to take on the Villanova Wildcats, despite Thursday’s contest initially slated as a 9:30 contest. While some fans may have turned the TV off at home, the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden in anticipation of this grudge match was palpable. After much drama with massive runs, unreal shooting and even a Dan Hurley technical foul, UConn advances onto the Big East Semifinals to face Creighton with their 73-56 win.
Samson Johnson opened the contest in a significant way for Connecticut. The big man threw down a massive slam off a screen on his own. Not soon after that, Johnson rose up on a lob from Hassan Diarra and slammed the ball home on an electric alley-oop slam. The UConn guards also did an excellent job denying the paint for Wildcat scorers early. While the Huskies did a solid job of staying in front of their man and forcing some early turnovers, a flip seemed to switch at the under 16 media timeout. The shots were not falling for the program, the Huskies were getting sloppy on the defensive end, and it was death by free throws for Connecticut.
The free throw discrepancy in the first half of this quarterfinal matchup was undoubtedly an eyesore for Dan Hurley’s squad, as Villanova ended the first 20 minutes on 12-16 shooting while Solo Ball made the Huskies’ only appearance at the charity stripe, finishing 2-2 from the line. This was a direct consequence of the Wildcats’ ability to beat their man and draw contact at a high level; free throws also played a significant factor in the Wildcats’ jumping out on a 10-0 run.
Despite this, an encouraging first half performance came from Aidan Mahaney, putting Connecticut on his back at one point and bringing the contest to within a point after going on a five-point run of his own. While the St. Mary’s transfer did not light up the scoreboard in the second half with only one additional bucket, Hurley noted postgame that tonight was an encouraging performance from him and believes that there is more to come. Hurley also said that he relates to the struggles that Mahaney is going through, as he went through the same struggles during his collegiate career.
“When they see me and the public perception and the viral moments, would think maybe that I’ve been mad at Aidan the whole year, I’ve been really down on. I think that he’s probably a guy on the team that I interact with and talk to the most because I went through exactly the type of year he went through,” Hurley told the media. “I think that right now he’s in a great mental space and I think he thinks he’s going to light this arena up the next two nights, and I think he’s really excited about the NCAA Tournament where he’s going to be mauled.”
Not shortly after, Liam McNeeley knotted the contest up at 31 points a piece after knocking down a massive shot from beyond the arc. This capped off a solid 7-point slash on 3-5 shooting. This came after a slow start to the first half, as the Wildcats caused some fits for McNeeley early on, forcing three turnovers and causing him to pass out of some early scoring opportunities. However, despite this, Eric Dixon immediately responded with a deep triple of his own. While this three-pointer certainly hurt the Huskies, Wooga Poplar played the most complete 20 minutes by far, and his 15 points on 7-9 shooting was the most significant reason why the Wildcats led by five at the end of the first 20 minutes.
While Poplar’s solid scoring rolled into the second half, putting up 10 points on 3-6 shooting, including 2-3 from beyond the arc, the rest of the program struggled to assert themselves. A player that the Huskies did an excellent job of matching up with tonight was Dixon, and it has been this way all season long.
Coming into Thursday, Dixon averaged 20 points per game against UConn. However, he did this on an inefficient 27.3 shooting percentage, which was his worst mark, by far, against any regular season program. The country’s leading scorer did not help raise that number against the Huskies on Thursday, as Dixon finished the contest with 8 points on 2-15 shooting from the field. Karaban noted postgame on what he believes has caused Dixon so many fits time and time again.
“I think we match up well. I think when I guard or, or Samson [Johnson] or Tarris [Reed Jr.] it’s kind of three different matchups for him,” Karaban noted postgame. “Credit coach [Luke] Murray for really designing a defense that he wanted us to play, and we just have to go out there and execute.”
Karaban led the way for the Huskies in the second half, as the two-time national champion added onto his 3-point first half in a big way, putting up 15 points on perfect 4-4 shooting, including a trio of threes from downtown. Not only was Karaban making a boatload of shots, but these came at the most convenient moments for UConn, as they added onto runs and buried any hope Villanova had at advancing to the next round. Postgame, the redshirt junior couldn’t help but discuss the “chip on his shoulder” that he has held since missing a pair of crucial free throws in his side’s Jan. 8th road loss at Villanova.
“I was down a lot, but you always carry that chip on your shoulder no matter what, and I think for a month or so I didn’t play my best basketball, and to be playing great basketball right now in March is what’s important,” Karaban noted postgame. “I’m glad I’ve been able to find myself, but more so coaches continue to have trusted me and my teammates have confidence in me, so I just credit them.”
The Huskies’ second half defensive adjustments were easily the best it has been all year. The fouling vanished, and instead of Villanova marching to the free throw line, the Huskies were difficult customers on defense, nearly halving the number of free throws that the program conceded. With Karaban firing on all cylinders, this combination led UConn to close the contest on an unbelievable 22-5 run, and there was nothing that Kyle Neptune and Villanova could do. As reminiscent as this run was of UConn’s 30-0 Elite Eight run against Illinois last season, Karaban attributed this to a renewed defensive intensity.
“It was guarding the ball, taking pride on the defensive end,” Karaban told the media. “We made a lot of mistakes in the first half, whether it was fouling or letting Poplar get to the rim easily or missing a ball screen. So, we just tightened those mistakes up, and we just took more pride on the defensive end in the second half.”
With this win, the Huskies return to action, Friday night at 9 p.m., barring double overtime, the game before, against the Creighton Bluejays. A win here would guarantee Connecticut a title defense of their Big East crown. With how hot they have been playing lately, defending and winning their crown is priority No. 1 for the defending national champions.