After the UConn men’s basketball team beat Xavier on Wednesday, freshman Liam McNeeley said he was looking forward to 19 more Big East games just like that.
He got another one on Saturday as the Huskies outlasted Butler on the road to win 78-74.
UConn never trailed, jumping out to a 14-2 advantage and leading by as many as 16 before the Bulldogs came roaring back. Head coach Dan Hurley summed up the Huskies’ defensive effort in a first-half huddle, where the Peacock microphones caught him saying the team stopped doing the hard things well.
For example, the Huskies let the Bulldogs beat them on a couple backdoor cuts for easy layups. On another occasion, Aidan Mahaney got beat off the dribble and Tarris Reed Jr. wasn’t able to come help in time.
On the other end, the Huskies just went cold for stretches. That’s going to happen on the road in the Big East, and it’s one of the reasons UConn’s defensive struggles and propensity to foul were concerning early in the season.
The Huskies have improved in both aspects, but both were also problems at times on Saturday. Through it all, UConn didn’t break.
On Wednesday, Reed was the Kodiak bear, as Hurley called him, and McNeeley and Solo Ball both made gutsy plays down the stretch. On Saturday, UConn needed its veterans.
After the Huskies extended their nine-point halftime lead back to 14, Butler eventually came back to tie it. But Alex Karaban hit a three and Hassan Diarra hit a tough bank shot in consecutive possessions to put them back on top for good.
Karaban finished with a game-high 21 points in arguably his best performance of the season, while Diarra had 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals.
“He’s a guy with big-time guts and confidence,” Hurley said of his senior point guard. “You look at him in the huddle as a teammate and you believe you’re out there with General Hassan and that we’re going to find a way to win.”
McNeeley’s effort shouldn’t be discounted either, though. Butler coach Thad Matta called him “a heck of a basketball player” after the game, but even that feels like it’s selling him short. He made all three of his 3-point attempts and had seven assists of his own as he continues to show he is one of the most impactful freshmen in the country.
It’s easy to look back on the game and say that UConn should have won by more — that’s probably true. But the win makes the Huskies 2-0 in the Big East for the second time in three years and still undefeated all-time against Butler (10-0). More importantly, the Huskies have won six straight since losing all three games in Maui.
There was no way UConn was headed into its holiday break without Hurley reminding the world of everyone who counted them out after Thanksgiving.
“I’m not sure how many people at that point in Maui were on their stupid podcasts saying we’d be 10-3,” he said. “Not all podcasts are stupid, some of them are. Some of them say stupid shit.”
Hurley did not say who he was talking about specifically, but he is a Good man who doesn’t want the media to Rob the team of the attention it deserves as people continue to have their Eye on college basketball.
