HARTFORD – The UConn men’s basketball team needed a decisive, blowout win after going winless at the Maui Invitational earlier this week. The Huskies faced Maryland Eastern Shore in a buying game at the XL Center on Saturday, two days after their return trip, and cruised to a 99-45 victory without their leading scorer, Alex Karaban.

In a balanced performance, UConn (5-3) had six players score in double figures and 10 with at least five points.

“I’m just glad to have this week behind us,” coach Dan Hurley said at the start of his postgame press conference, thanking fans for their support and asking for patience. “Some of the things that are a problem for us were a problem for us tonight. And if we want to get back to the type of team and program we’ve been over the last few years, we need to continue to solidify those things. But it’s just nice to put this incredibly long week behind us.”

Liam McNeeley and Jaylin Stewart, in Karaban’s typical starting position, led with 16 points apiece, while Solo Ball and Aidan Mahaney added 12 and 11, respectively.

Jayden Ross recorded the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Tarris Reed Jr. recorded his fourth of the season with 10 points and 12 boards.

Karaban sat on the bench in street clothes after suffering what Hurley said was a “pretty mild concussion” near the end of the seventh-place game in Maui, which UConn lost to Dayton. He was taken to a local hospital and flew back with the team late Wednesday night.

“I think everyone treated it the way we should, with great care and caution,” Hurley said. “I would like to thank the doctors at the event for the way they handled it and our team doctor (Robert Arciero) who was with us on the trip and took great care of Alex.”

Saturday’s game gave the younger players an opportunity to play without their leader to lean on.

“The coach has talked to us a lot about playing hard defensively overall and I think it has allowed us all to gain a little more trust in each other when Alex is not on the pitch. I think some of it was good for us, but we definitely can’t wait to have him back,” Ross said.

Hassan Diarra got the home crowd into the game early when he found Samson Johnson wide open for an alley-oop dunk, and when the Hawks turned the ball over – five times in the first five minutes – McNeeley and Ball took advantage and got inside in conclusion. Stewart, making his first career start, hit a 3-pointer and Diarra followed suit, extending the lead to 18-4 after seven minutes.

Hurley turned to freshman point guard Ahmad Nowell, who was playing some effective minutes in Maui, about midway through the first half. He assisted Jayden Ross on a dunk and quickly scored five points. A triple by McNeeley extended UConn’s lead to 30-8 with 8:35 left.

Ball completed a layup a minute later, but UConn managed the next six and a half minutes before scoring again for the UMES defense, which entered the game ranked 357th out of 364 Division I programs by KenPom’s standards.

Mahaney finally ended the losing streak with a layup through contact and the Huskies took a 40-18 lead at halftime.

UConn had missed nine straight three-pointers since its first-half drought began until Ross scored his first goal of the game nearly four minutes into the second half. Stewart scored seven of the first 13 points after halftime and was replaced by freshman Isaiah Abraham with 15 minutes left. Abraham shot a 3-pointer immediately after the inbounds and Ball made several shots from long range to extend the lead to 40 points, 65-25.

Mahaney started with eight points in four minutes, and Reed, Ball and Ross each threw down dunks to extend the lead.

UConn shot 66.7% in the second half and 54.2% for the game.

The Huskies made 10 of 27 from distance and dominated the glass with a 48-23 rebound advantage.

“We’re going to need grace and patience,” Hurley said. “Just incredible support from our fans and our audience, not just locally but also externally, on social media. This team is still a work in progress. We have so many new people, so many young people, so many people who have moved on to much bigger roles or are playing for the first time or have just gotten here and are now carrying the burden of the monster of a program that we have here created.”

UConn will take a short break from game action before hosting No. 17 Baylor at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. FS1). After Baylor, the Huskies will complete their non-conference slate on Dec. 8 at Texas and Dec. 14 at Madison Square Garden against No. 3 Gonzaga.

“It was an exciting week. It’s been a humbling week. It pretty much blew us away. I think it was obviously a quick turnaround after such a long journey, but it was good that the guys were able to see the ball go in the goal and have some success,” Hurley said. “Obviously the level of competition is going to be incredibly high from now on, which is really, really exciting. And we will get the chance to play these games in much more comfortable environments, in places where we feel comfortable – XL, Gampel, MSG, just normal away games.

Originally published: November 30, 2024 at 9:07 pm EST