STORRS — The ball was kicked out to Alex Karaban, and resolute, shot-ready, he threw it in. No bricks, no rattling in and out, no turnovers or meltdowns.
Not now, not on March 5.
Karaban and the Gampel Pavilion crowd exulted in the moment, a massive release of pent-up tension. It didn’t blow the roof off, thankfully, as there were enough issues on that front on a rainy night, but there couldn’t have been a person in the arena who didn’t feel good for Karaban. Even Marquette coach Shaka Smart, as time ran out on UConn’s 72-66 victory, had kind words.
“I told him, ‘that’s what you do,’” Smart said. “He’s a winner.”
Alex Karaban leads UConn men’s basketball to critical 72-66 win over No. 20 Marquette
It has been a difficult, often frustrating season for Karaban, for Dan Hurley, for UConn men’s basketball. Difficult because there have been some bad losses, and some harder-than-expected wins, frustrating because of what has come before, back-to-back national championships that raise the bar unreasonably high.
But it is March now, the reset button’s been hit and the Huskies are starting to look like their old selves. The victory over Marquette could be a season-maker, lifting UConn to 21-9, 13-6 in the Big East, a ledger that would thrill 95 percent of the programs in the country. And things are trending right.
“There are a lot of teams in the country that have eight, nine, 10 losses that are going to be threats to do some good things in March,” Hurley said. “We have this belief, too, if we can take care of business Saturday (against Seton Hall) and go into New York (for the conference tournament) on a roll. When you play or coach at UConn, in the month of March, if you get it rolling you’re convinced you’re supposed to win. We have a mental edge, I think, on a lot of people in the month of March.”
What happened in the past has no bearing on the present, except in that all important area: belief, self-confidence. Karaban, Hassan Diarra and Samson Johnson, three veterans of both championships, the ones who know what it takes and when it’s needed, made this win possible on a night when the younger, newer players struggled.
And they’re likely reminded all the time, as we will remind everyone here, that UConn lost nine regular season games in 2011 then won 11 in a row to snatch title No. 3. They lost eight and went into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed in 2014, then busted everyone’s bracket for No.4.
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Hurley’s two titles did not come out of nowhere. A three-peat, the way this regular season has gone, would be a surprise for sure, but no one around the country is going to be smug and secure in the knowledge that the Huskies are finished until they are, well, finished.
“We want to play our best basketball in March, and that’s what UConn has done, whether it’s the last two years or years before us,” Karaban said. “It’s a special time when it’s March and you wear the UConn uniform and we all realize that in our locker room. We want to play to our fullest potential and leave a mark on this program.”
The mark has been left by the players who will be honored at Senior Day Saturday, before the Huskies play last-place Seton Hall. Whatever they do this March will only burnish it, even if a season-ending loss would sting for a while.
This much the Huskies have shown during their current three-game winning streak: they are not giving up the Big East or national titles. St. John’s, or whoever aspires to it, will have to wrest the crown from UConn’s cold, eliminated hands.
The Huskies had a 44-29 edge in rebounds Wednesday night and as Smart ruefully pointed out, many were below the rim. They dove and clawed for loose balls. Jaylin Stewart’s thunderous put-back dunk ignited the Gampel crowd and a 10-0 run that out them in control for good. UConn turned it over 25 times at Marquette, they cut that down to seven this time.
“The things we’re optimistic about, we were able to win this game with Solo (Ball) and Liam (McNeeley) going 7 for 28,” Hurley said. “And we were able to win against a quality team. The way we’re rebounding the ball right now, three guys averaging 14 points a game, on any given night can score 20, Alex heating up now that it’s March, Hass looking healthier. We’re just dying for some good backup point guard play behind Hass so we can keep his minutes manageable. Samson, what he did tonight, Tarris (Reed Jr.) with what he’s been doing. ….”
All of the pieces were there in 2023 and 24. Most of the pieces are there now. But always there is that intangible piece in the minds of the Huskies, and their opponents.
Karaban, who scored 21 points, embodies it. Hurley put the burden of driving the team for a three-peat on his shoulders, as the only starter from the championship teams who hasn’t already played in the NBA.
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He went through a horrible, protracted slump and he beat himself up, taking the blame for losses, distributing the credit after wins like a good captain does. Since March 1, Karaban is 12 for 26 from the floor, and 5 for 10 on threes. He had six turnovers in the loss at St. John’s on Feb. 23; he has two in three games since.
With the chance to move up in the conference standings, even with Marquette with two wins in hand, maybe get up to the No.3 seed in the Garden, which could keep them out of St. John’s bracket until the final, Karaban hit the 3-point shot that put this one away. No meltdowns in the stretch.
“When the shot went in, I just said to myself, ‘there’s not a college athlete who deserved a moment like that more than that kid,’” Hurley said. “The way the year has gone for this team. But it’s March, and Alex is starting to heat up. It’s March.”
Originally Published: March 6, 2025 at 12:24 PM EST
