UConn men extinguish UCLA 73-57; Karaban’s career night carries Huskies to Sweet 16
AP The UConn men’s basketball team advanced to its third Sweet 16 in four years by surging past UCLA 73-57 in the Round of 32 late Sunday night in Philadelphia. The No. 2 Huskies started slowly against the No.
7 Bruins, trailing by six points in the first half before exerting their dominance over a team that was missing its leading scorer and best player – senior forward Tyler Bilodeau. While UConn has loftier goals than making it to the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend, Huskies’ fans endured a nine-year Sweet 16 drought before head coach Dan Hurley brought the team back to that stage in 2023. On Sunday, senior UConn forward and team captain Alex Karaban single-handedly led the Huskies to the Sweet 16 again with a career-high 27 points.
He nailed four of his eight three-point attempts and made all five of his free throws. “I got to do whatever it takes to lead this team,” Karaban said after the game. “I have the most experience in college basketball just with what I’ve done in four years, so [I have to] help this team through the good and the bad and just make sure everyone is relaxed out there and just try make everyone’s job easier.
” The two-time national champion added that the sky is the ceiling for this team. “I mean, when we’re locked in defensively, and we’re tough and we rebound, I feel like we can compete with anybody,” Karaban said. “And, we have so much firepower on offense it can be tough for other teams to guard, but we have to take it one game at a time.
” Hurley praised Karaban’s performance and put it in perspective. “This game was about this guy right here, his greatness and his excellence. The last four years, there hasn’t been a better player in college basketball.
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