No. 4 UConn men’s basketball upset by Marquette in finale
· Yahoo Sports
The No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team was stunned in their regular season finale by Marquette, falling 68-62 on the road in Milwaukee.
The loss gives St. John’s an outright Big East regular-season title. A win for UConn would have made the two teams co-champs with 18-2 records, but the Huskies finished 17-3 conference in play and will be the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. It’s also less likely that the Huskies will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with the defeat.
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Silas Demary Jr. led Huskies with 17 points and 8 assists while Tarris Reed Jr. put up 16 points and 10 rebounds. It was an afternoon to forget for Alex Karaban, who finished with 2 points on 0-for-6 shooting, and Braylon Mullins, who shot 4-for-15. Marquette had four players finish in double figures. Nigel James Jr. had a game-high 19 points, and Chase Ross had 14 points.
The Huskies knew exactly what they needed to do to clinch the regular season crown, but shot 3-for-24 from three and turned the ball over 16 times, not playing the championship-caliber basketball they’ve been playing nearly all season long.
UConn had a frustrating final possession with the team down two points with 14 seconds to go. Jayden Ross grabbed a big defensive rebound from a missed floater by James and sent it to Karaban, who had zero urgency to get up the floor. He handed the ball to Demary, who crossed the timeline with six seconds left. He drove right and missed the game-tying layup over 6’11” Ben Gold. The Golden Eagles grabbed the rebound, and Dan Hurley wasted no time letting his frustration out at the official, picking up two technical fouls and getting ejected.
Tarris Reed Jr. had yet another strong start to a game, scoring six points on 3-of-4 shooting. He also created points off the glass, outrebounding the entire Marquette team at the 8-minute mark in the first half. He extended multiple possessions, one of which led to a deep three from Solo Ball. That was UConn’s only points from the field outside of the paint for the entire first half.
The freshman James was all over the court early on, burying a step back three over Eric Reibe and following it up with a smooth scoop-and-1 layup to take an early 14-11 lead. Part of the Golden Eagles’ early success was capitalizing on six Husky turnovers in the first 10 minutes.
Reed continued to stay hot, getting into double figures with 10 points to go up 25-23 with under six minutes in the first half. However, foul issues sent him to the bench earlier than the Huskies expected. He picked up his second foul with just over five minutes to go.
Eric Reibe checked in and couldn’t live up to Reed’s dominance. Defensively, he allowed some easy second chance opportunities. On the offensive end, he was out of position on a few offensive rebound opportunities that could have added to the Husky lead.
UConn went into the halftime break with a 35-33 lead, which you could argue was surprising that the Huskies were winning despite shooting 1-for-9 from downtown and 41% overall compared to Marquette’s 54% from the field. Reed and Demary finished the half with 10 points apiece. James Jr. led Marquette with 12 points, and Adrien Stevens also put up double figures with 10 points. UConn dominated the glass, leading the rebound battle 23-9.
The beginning stages of the second half were back and forth. Reed went back to work and got an easy look down low from Demary. The next possession, he finished a sweet up-and-under layup, which got the UConn bench on its feet. The Golden Eagles would respond with a 4-0 run of their own to even the game at 39, which got Fiserv Forum rocking. Solo Ball silenced the crowd with a deep triple, his first made shot of the half.
With 14 minutes to go, Marquette went on a 6-0 run to regain a 47-45 lead, its first since the middle of the first half. The Huskies looked rattled, which is unusual this late in the season. Mullins missed a deep ball trying to take the lead back, putting him 0-for-7 from downtown. Karaban was a non-factor, just two shots midway through the second half. The crowd was rocking as Marquette extended the run to 10 straight points. Turnover after turnover, the Huskies were handing Marquette free points on the other end. Demary finished with four turnovers, and Karaban had three turnovers, most of which came during the Golden Eagles’ run.
The Huskies were down 51-45 at the under-12 timeout. UConn couldn’t seem to stop the bleeding. Another bucket and three from Marquette put them up 55-47. The Marquette defense was swarming, holding UConn to many long possessions and forcing deep contested threes. The Golden Eagles were racing up and down the floor.
Braylon Mullins got his first three-pointer to fall to cut the lead inside single digits with five minutes to go. This ignited a 7-1 run to bring UConn within six. Marquette was on the break when James missed a layup, but Gold followed it with a ferocious slam to back up by eight. A pair of free throws from Ball brought UConn back within two possessions. The Huskies got a rare defensive stop on the other end. Karaban took a wild corner three, which was an airball. That was the best case scenario, as it fell right into Jayden Ross’s hands and he laid it in to cut the lead to four.
A stop from UConn and a pair of free throws cut the lead to two. The mismanagement of the final possession gave Marquette the upset, their first win over an AP top 5 team since Nov. 2023, and led to Dan Hurley’s ejection. UConn will head to New York City for the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies will face the winner of the 7/10 game on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. on FS1. It’s unclear whether Hurley will be available to coach UConn in that game, but if he is suspended, Kimani Young will likely serve as interim head coach in his absence.