The revenge tour continues.
Coming into the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday night, the third-ranked UConn men’s basketball (17-1, 7-0 Big East) had dropped the last four games at Seton Hall (14-3, 4-2 Big East), ranked 25th in the country. The Huskies have not won at “The Rock” in front of a packed crowd since Feb. 10, 2013. Every loss since that win has come in a variety of ways.
“I’m just proud we got a Big East win, and it’s definitely nice to win here,” Alex Karaban, who finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, said after the game.
Two of the nation’s top defensive teams clashed in Newark. Early on, Seton Hall’s pressure stifled UConn’s offense as the Huskies scored their first 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting.
“They just apply a lot of pressure,” Silas Demary Jr., who finished with 8 points and seven assists, said. “They kind of get us off the spots we want to catch the ball, and they have a lot of guys that play with active hands and they’re always in the passing lane. So we kind of knew that we’re going to have to work extra hard in the half-court. I think when it was time to execute, we did down the stretch.”
Seton Hall’s defense may be lethal, but UConn is right up there with them. Add the Huskies’ tremendous defense with Seton Hall’s offense ranked 133rd in the country coming into Tuesday night, and there was trouble brewing for the Pirates. While the Huskies closed the first half on an 18-3 run and started to find a rhythm on offense, Seton Hall went on an 8:20 drought without making a field goal and shot 41.4% from the floor for the game.
But that is why Seton Hall relies on its defense. The team lives for moments, games like a top-25 battle with Connecticut. Seton Hall went on a 19-8 run to cut an 18-point deficit to seven with 9:10 remaining. The Pirates did not hit a 3-pointer until Mike Williams III did with 48 seconds left to play, cutting UConn’s lead to one point.
That would be the final time Seton Hall scored. Coming out of a Seton Hall timeout, Braylon Mullins, who finished the game with 11 points, blocked a 3-pointer from Williams with 11 seconds to play.
“Ever since he stepped on campus, he’s been an underrated defender, just how he’s able to move defensively,” Karaban said on the block. “He’s a sneaky athlete, too, so it wasn’t really a surprise for us.”
Demary, who found himself at the line for the play before—after Seton Hall’s heart-and-soul guard Budd Clark fouled out—was back at the line. Demary was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
“It was never ‘Here we go again,’” Karaban, who also was perfect with a 4-for-4 clip from the stripe, said. “It was staying together. It was similar to [the game against] BYU in a way, but that’s what we did; we found a way to win. I’m proud of us.”
UConn finished the game shooting 51% from the floor but did not score a field goal for the final 5:42. The Huskies were also abysmal from deep, shooting 3-of-17 from beyond the arc.
“Anytime you coach against Shaheen Holloway, one of the best coaches in the game, your team better have the will to win,” Dan Hurley said to TNT Sports’ Andy Katz on the truTV broadcast. “They play so hard, but we’re UConn.”
Tarris Reed Jr. lived up to his “Kodiak Bear” nickname, despite a dismal 5-of-13 performance from the free-throw line. Reed led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and brought down a game-high nine rebounds.
“Those numbers versus those guys…that’s different,” Hurley said.
All the chaos that unfolded was reminiscent of the past four outings in Newark. UConn had a season-high 17 turnovers, 10 missed free throws (tied for the most this season), and had nine shots blocked (most this season). And won.
“They might be the hardest playing team in the country,” Hurley said of Seton Hall. “I thought for 25 minutes we played as hard as them…but we couldn’t sustain it.”
Because of the relentless defense UConn showed on Tuesday night, the Huskies rose to third nationally in opponent 3-point percentage (27.1%) and fifth in opponent effective field goal percentage (43.3%). Being elite in those categories was key to the fifth and sixth national championship seasons. Even if it means dropping to sixth in defensive efficiency on KenPom.
The Huskies finally won at “The Rock” and now improve to 51-24 against Seton Hall in the all-time series. Maybe it was thanks to an Etsy witch. Hurley, tied with some explicit language, was quite impressed that some UConn fans reached his level of superstitious.
He also thinks it is good that the Huskies are 7-0 in Big East play for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
One last game during winter break for the Huskies: a trip to the nation’s capital to take on Georgetown on Saturday afternoon.