No. 18 UConn feels it has regained its stride, and it gets another chance to show it when it battles No. 8 Gonzaga on Saturday night in New York.
The two-time defending national champions were removed from their No. 2 perch in the rankings when they went 0-3 at the Maui Invitational late last month. But the Huskies have recovered with three straight victories since returning to the mainland.
Coach Dan Hurley decided to take a shot at detractors after a 76-65 road win over Texas on Sunday.
“Maybe the people with the shovels and the dirt, maybe they were too quick to grab the shovel and throw the dirt on us,” Hurley said. “Maybe, we’ll see. … Everything that happened on the Hawaii trip was jarring for the program but the response since we’ve returned to the mainland speaks to the culture and the championship DNA.”
Four days before beating the Longhorns, the Huskies (7-3) posted a 76-72 home victory over then-No. 15 Baylor.
Alex Karaban missed two games due to a head injury sustained in Maui before returning against Texas. He matched his season best of 21 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.
“All-American level performance and that’s what he’s going to have to do for this team this year,” Hurley said of Karaban. “He played like a star, and he delivered in every way.”
Karaban leads UConn with a 16.5 scoring average and his 25 3-pointers rank second on the squad. Solo Ball has made a team-leading 27 treys while averaging 12.9 points. Liam McNeeley (12.4) and Tarris Reed Jr. (11.0 points, team-best 8.2 rebounds) also are scoring in double digits.
Gonzaga will see a familiar figure in UConn guard Aidan Mahaney, who starred for West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary’s the past two seasons. Mahaney is averaging just 4.9 points.
The Bulldogs (7-2) are coming off a 90-89 overtime loss against then-No. 4 Kentucky last Saturday at the Battle in Seattle.
Gonzaga led by 18 points in the second half before hitting a lull and watching the Wildcats prosper.
“All of a sudden a lid was on the hoop,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said afterward. “We had a lot of really good looks, ones we made in the first half and we’ve made all year.”
Graham Ike stood out with season highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds against Kentucky. Ike has team-best averages of 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds.
Ryan Nembhard is also excelling while averaging 10.9 points and a national-best 10.7 assists per game. He has 96 assists against just 15 turnovers.
Also scoring in double digits for the Zags are Khalif Battle (13.4), Braden Huff (12.2), Nolan Hickman (11.2) and Ben Gregg (10.0).
Both Gonzaga losses have come in overtime. The other was an 86-78 loss to West Virginia in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
Few noted that the crowd in Madison Square Garden will definitely be pro-UConn.
“Obviously going all the way across the country and basically playing a home game for (UConn),” Few said. “So it’ll be another great environment.”
UConn has won five of its seven meetings against Gonzaga, including a 76-63 victory last season in Seattle.
There also was the 82-54 domination of the Bulldogs in the Elite Eight of the 2023 NCAA Tournament en route to the Huskies’ first of two back-to-back titles.
–Field Level Media
