UConn Men's Basketball

Rapid Recap: UConn trounces Seton Hall, 81-50

By Aman Kidwai

March 8, 2025

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STORRS – UConn men’s basketball closed its season with a convincing win over Seton Hall at Gampel Pavlion, 81-50. Dan Hurley’s squad heads into the conference tournament as the 3-seed with a 22-9 final record (14-6 Big East).

On a day where three Husky seniors were honored in what is probably their final collegiate game in Connecticut, those experienced leaders made sure their squad got off to a great start and all three finished with great days overall. Samson Johnson, Hassan Diarra, and Alex Karaban scored the first three buckets to start the game – much to the delight of the home crowd – before a Seton Hall three.

A block by Johnson set up Diarra’s first basket, and he had the assist on Karaban’s first bucket as well. Johnson’s second block set up a Solo Ball three that made it 13-3, and the route was on. The Huskies responded to the Pirates’ first basket with an 11-0 run before Isaiah Coleman drove in for a lay-up to make it 18-5.

UConn went cold for a bit and turned the ball over at a high rate, but maintained a big lead through the rest of the first half as Karaban hit a couple of threes and Johnson continued finding space. Ball hit a three to lead the team with nine points at the break as the Huskies led 43-22 at halftime.

The lead grew greater than 30 in the second half as UConn closed the game out without any difficulty. The highlight dunks continued, the backups received healthy playing time, and Husky Nation sent the squad off for the postseason in the most cheerful way possible.

Five Huskies finished in double figures, including Aidan Mahaney and Jaylin Stewart off the bench. Ball led all scorers with 17 points while Karaban and Johnson each scored 14, and Karaban pulled down 10 rebounds for the double-double.

Next up, the Huskies are playing on Thursday night for their first game in the Big East Tournament. They’ll face the winner of Wednesday night’s No. 6 vs. No. 11 game in the Quarterfinals’ nightcap, which will tip off at 9:30 p.m. on FS1.