UConn men’s basketball messed around for 25 minutes on Sunday and almost had to find out. Instead, the No. 11 Huskies battled back at home against the Providence Friars by scoring 60 points in the second half to escape with an 87-84 win.
It was UConn’s 29th in a row at home, eighth in a row overall and fourth in a row to start Big East play. The Huskies are 4-0 in conference for the first time since 2001-02.
That’s the stuff that matters and will ultimately allow us all to forget about this game. But at home against one of the worst teams in the Big East, UConn trailed by 12 at the half and by 14 several minutes into the second.
The first half was marked by an alarming lack of offensive cohesion without freshman Liam McNeeley, who is out for a few weeks with a high ankle sprain. Providence torched UConn 1-on-1, and the Friars outworked the Huskies for rebounds and loose balls in the first 20 minutes.
Alex Karaban, the Huskies’ junior leader, had five first-half points, none in the final 10 minutes of the frame as the Friars finished the half on a 19-7 run.
Head coach Dan Hurley said it himself after the game when he told the media, “There’s going to be a lot of bad film in this one for us.”
He credited Providence coach Kim English for how he prepared his team and the energy the Friars came out with, but a lot of it was UConn’s own doing. Providence finished the game with five total assists on 30 made field goals. That should tell you it wasn’t a ball movement exhibition from the Friars where good offense just beats good defense. It was Providence guards driving on anyone they wanted and when they couldn’t score, picking up 15 offensive rebounds.
The Huskies’ adjusted defensive efficiency rating in KenPom dropped from 101st in the country to 134th after the game.
It wasn’t all bad. If it was, we’d be talking about the end of a winning streak. Hassan Diarra was the point guard UConn needed for 38 minutes, scoring 19 and shooting 10-11 from the line.
“The game for us was about Hassan Diarra and his will,” Hurley said. “His will to not allow us to lose what would have been a really rough game.”
The same could probably be said of Tarris Reed Jr. He saw limited time in the first half after he missed a defensive assignment early and, as Hurley said, “wasn’t ready to go.” But in the second half, he helped erase UConn’s struggles both in protecting the rim and rebounding. He also had 10 points and made all four of his free throws.
“[In the] second half, he showed his impact,” Hurley said. “He made some awesome blocks and some timely buckets. He was a beast.”
Meanwhile Aidan Mahaney had arguably his best game as a Husky on both ends. He went 4-5 from the field (2-2 3PT) to score 15 and took a massive step forward defensively in the second half. While he’s gained the unfortunate reputation of being easy to blow by when guarding the ball, he did a better job of keeping his defender in front of him on Sunday.
“I thought his defense was a lot better in the second half and it was a big difference maker,” Hurley added. “We’re gonna have to win games in this type of manner.”
With McNeeley out for at least the next couple weeks, Hurley turned to Jayden Ross to start but added that Mahaney was also in the running.
Ross played 11 minutes and was the only UConn player to see action without scoring. Hurley added that Ross and Jaylin Stewart need to catch up to where their classmate Solo Ball (16 points) is right now.
The difficulty level rises a bit more on Wednesday when UConn travels to Philadelphia to play Villanova at Finneran Pavilion, Nova’s on-campus arena. The Wildcats have won seven out of eight and seem to have recovered from a horrific start to the year.
