PHILADELPHIA — Alex Karaban has seen his role evolve across 147 games at UConn, from a supporting part as a freshman to a key shooter and connector on offense and, now, the senior leader.
On Sunday, the Huskies asked him for something different. With others struggling and their season on the line, they needed Karaban to carry their offense.
Karaban responded with a career-high 27 points, freshman Braylon Mullins added 17 and No. 2 seed UConn took down No. 7 seed UCLA 73-57 to return to the Sweet 16.
“I definitely don’t want my career to end so I’m doing everything in my power to help lead this team to make sure that happens and get the win,” Karaban said. “Do anything possible to make sure I get the win. Whether it’s my night or someone else’s night, help, contribute and lead.”
UConn (31-5) will face No. 3 Michigan State in the East Region semifinals. The program is shooting for a third national title to cap Karaban’s four-year career, after eventual champion Florida eliminated the Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year.
Two nights after racking up 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman, Tarris Reed Jr. had 10 points and 13 boards but shot just 3 of 8 from the field. Jayden Ross had 11 points, but Solo Ball was scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting and Silas Demary Jr. scored two on a pair of free throws.
While Reed drew UCLA’s attention, Karaban shot 9 of 16 overall and 4 of 8 from 3-point range as the focal point of the offense. Coach Dan Hurley believed Karaban was unhappy with his performance in late-season losses to Marquette and St. John’s, the latter in the Big East championship game.
Now, he’s in attack mode.
“He’s aggressively looking for all of his shots. He’s working his way to the ball. He’s driving the ball,” Hurley said. “I just think that he learned a lot from that Big East championship game, that game at Marquette where he left those games not going out on his shield the way a player of his caliber should.
“I think that’s the difference. He’s not going down without firing all of his bullets.”
Xavier Booker had 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first half to fuel UCLA (24-12), but he was held in check after that and finished with 13. Eric Dailey Jr. put up 12, Donovan Dent added 11 with nine assists and Skyy Clark also scored 11.
It was the second matchup of the blue bloods all-time after the Bruins defeated UConn in the 1995 NCAA Tournament on the way to their most recent national championship.
UCLA led by six early on until the Huskies hit seven shots in a row, anchored by a pair of 3-pointers from Ross that gave them their first lead at 23-21.
Eric Reibe threw down a two-handed dunk with 3:38 remaining, and Mullins knocked down two triples in the final 2:49 to give UConn a 38-33 halftime edge.
But it barely lasted. UCLA scored the first six points of the second half, and Clark’s triple put UCLA ahead 42-40.
Karaban dug in and converted two layups. His third-chance tip-in put UConn back up 46-44 with 13:49 to go.
He added one trey from the left wing and sidestepped a defender closing in to hit another, capping a 14-0 run for the first double-digit lead of the night at 56-44.
Dailey briefly brought UCLA within four on a 3-pointer and old-fashioned three-point play, but a 9-0 UConn run restored the double-figure advantage. The Bruins shot 33.3% in the second half and 38.8% overall to UConn’s 46.9%.
The Bruins played for the second straight game without leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau (17.6 ppg, 46.4% from three).
UCLA coach Mick Cronin drew a technical foul down the stretch purportedly for “disrespectfully addressing an official,” but he declined to comment on the officiating postgame, focusing instead on his team’s missed chances at the rim and a few fouls on 3-point attempts.
“At the end of the day, Dan said to me if you would have had your guys, you know, you never know,” Cronin said. “I thought the bottom line was it’s 5-on-5 and they played harder than us. Their defense was better than our offense, and I take responsibility for that.”
UConn will have to defeat Michigan State and either Duke or St. John’s in the East Region to return to the Final Four, but the Huskies are four steps away from delivering both Hurley and Karaban a third national title.
“When we got out of the first round, we become very dangerous because when Huskies get out of the first round, you start believing that a run is coming,” Hurley said. “And I just think you saw, obviously, the team feed off of the level that Alex was playing at. When the two-time national champion has that look in his eye and is making that type of shots and plays, that’s when the group was able to put the group away.”
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
