It wasn’t pretty, but not all wins are meant to look that way. On Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavillion, UConn came through with a late eruption on the backs of seniors Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed to extinguish Seton Hall, 71-67. After being the first active Huskies player to have their number unveiled on the Men’s Huskies of Honor pregame, Karaban carried those good vibes over into the game, scoring a game-high 23 points on 5-6 shooting from three with some clutch ones late.
Trailing by eight with 8:45 left, UConn went on a game-changing 10-0 run, which included two threes from Karaban, the second of which easily came from NBA territory. Braylon Mullins added another three pointer to cap off the run and hand the lead back to the Huskies. Then, inside the final two minutes, UConn hit 10 free throws to put away the Pirates for good on a day where Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway was physically and visibly sick with the flu, yet still coached with his regular passion.
Seton Hall big men Stephon Payne and Najai Hines each did a good job holding Reed in check, for the most part. Once the former hit the foul quota with still over eight minutes left, Reed took advantage of more space inside, getting a basket and a free throw late to help keep the Huskies ahead by the slightest of margins.
The Huskies did a nice job drawing fouls, too, with 12 more fouls called on Seton Hall than UConn, making for a stark disparity. Luckily for UConn, the Pirates couldn’t buy a foul late. With Seton Hall down three with nine seconds left, Budd Clark threw up an airball after trying to draw a foul on a three-point shot which initiated some contact from Silas Demary Jr. A few minutes earlier, AJ Staton-McCray looked to have been hacked by Reed on a drive to the hoop that wasn’t called. After the game, Holloway voiced his frustration with the officiating, but it’s not the reason Seton Hall lost. The Huskies’ offense was able to feed off the defense late, turning bad Pirates’ shots into momentum shots on the other end. This was far from the defensive masterpiece that the Huskies orchestrated against St. John’s, but it was enough to get the job done against a Seton Hall offense that arrived in Connecticut amidst a cold stretch.
The reunion between Dan Hurley and his alma mater always makes for unreal cinema, which was once again a reality on Senior Day at UConn. Ultimately, the Big East is not going to take too much pride in any team outside of UConn and St. John’s. With the Huskies beating Seton Hall and the Red Storm cakewalking past Villanova on Saturday, a clearer picture emerges for both teams to share a piece of the Big East Regular Season title barring an unexpected loss for one of them.
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