No. 4 UConn men’s basketball finished the regular season on a sour note, falling to Marquette in Milwaukee 68-62 and squandering an opportunity to clinch its 12th Big East regular season title in program history.
The Huskies struggled for stretches in the first half, but still managed to take a lead into the locker room. The killer was an over eight minute stretch in which they didn’t make a field goal in the second half, allowing the Golden Eagles to expand their lead to as much as 12. A frantic 11-3 run in the final two minutes gave UConn the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with the shot clock off, but they couldn’t convert.
UConn (27-4, 17-4) was led by a pair of double-figure scorers in the defeat; Silas Demary Jr. had 17 points and eight assists and Tarris Reed Jr. put up 16 points and 10 rebounds, his third-straight double-double and ninth on the year.
The Huskies shot 36% from the field and an anemic 13% (03/24) from three, their worst clip of the season. Partial credit to the Golden Eagles’ defense, but a lot of the looks were wide open that UConn just couldn’t convert.
Marquette (12-19, 7-13) came into the day desperate to avoid finishing in last place in the Big East, needing a win to guarantee so. It has been quite the fall from grace for Shaka Smart’s program this year, now needing to win four games in four days to clinch a fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth.
Reed headlined an early offensive surge for the Huskies, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds by the first media timeout, at which UConn led 11-8.
That would remain the score for a while, as neither side scored for nearly four minutes before a Golden Eagle three knotted things at 11. The Husky scoring skid would finally be snapped after nearly six minutes thanks to a pair of free throws from Alex Karaban. UConn had six turnovers, most of which were unforced errors, that were the main reason for the drought. The patented Shaka Smart ball pressure was dialed up to 11 on Senior Night for the Golden Eagles.
From there, the shots began to fall for both sides. UConn hit four of its next five shots, Marquette five of its next seven. The Huskies were pounding the ball inside, both with post ups to Reed and drives to the rim from the guards. Demary Jr. emerged during this segment, having a couple confident finishes through the trees.
Up 25-23 with around five minutes left in the half, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run to push it to eight. The burst was capped off by a pair of free throws from Jayden Ross after he got a steal and nearly threw down a fastbreak slam before being fouled.
A pair of freshmen for Marquette kept the Golden Eagles afloat all half. Nigel James Jr -- a favorite for Big East Freshman of the Year -- scored 12 points and hit a shot at the buzzer, while Adrien Stevens scored 10 including seven straight MU points late in the half. At the break, UConn had a slim 35-33 advantage.
Reed picked up right where he left off to open the second half after having to sit the final five minutes with foul trouble, scoring two straight buckets inside to push the lead back to six, but the Golden Eagles would tie the game up in less than a minute before Ball hit the Huskies’ second three of the day to silence the crowd.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, Reed picking up right where he left off also meant a quick third foul with UConn up 43-41 with 15:39 to go. He headed to the bench, and Eric Reibe replaced him and scored on his first touch.
Immediately after that bucket though, Royce Parham of Marquette went on a personal 8-0 run in less than 90 seconds to put the Golden Eagles up 49-45, triggering a Hurley timeout in which he put Reed back into the game.
The Golden Eagle surge would continue even with Reed back in. A corner three from James made their lead 55-47, then Braylon Mullins couldn’t answer on a great look on the other end. Mullins logged the worst shooting game of his career, going 1-10 from deep.
A dunk from Ross ended a near eight minute drought without a field goal for the Huskies, but Chase Ross splashed two straight threes to double up the lead from six to 12 and forced another Hurley timeout.
Mullins finally broke through from deep after the stoppage, hitting his first three of the day to make it 61-52 with five minutes to play.
Demary Jr hit four straight free throws surrounding a split pair by Parham to cut the lead down to six, but Ben Gold had a putback dunk to push it back to eight on the Golden Eagles’ first second chance points of the night.
After two more Demary free throws and a defensive stand, Ross cleaned up a wild Alex Karaban miss and made it a 64-60 game with 1:22 to go as Hurley called his last timeout to talk game plan.
A couple free throws from Reed cut it to two and another stop meant UConn had the ball with a chance to tie the game. Demary drove towards the rim as time ticked down and couldn’t convert, ending up in a jump ball with possession to Marquette.
Hurley was irate, picking up a double technical foul and getting ejected for bumping --or coming dangerously close to -- Pat Driscoll. Marquette received six free throws to close the game, hitting four of them to get to the 68-62 final.
For the first time in his 142-game UConn career, Karaban finished without a field goal, going 0-6 from the floor and 0-5 from three.
The Huskies were +15 on the glass and grabbed 16 offensive boards, a pair of numbers that on most nights are good enough to win the game. Not on Saturday, however.
UConn also finishes a full game behind St. John’s, granting the Red Storm sole possession of their second consecutive Big East regular season crown.
Next up, UConn heads to the Big East Tournament and will be the No. 2 seed at Madison Square Garden next week. Its first game is slated for 7 p.m. on Thursday night against the winner of the 7/10 game on Wednesday.
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