UConn Men's Basketball

Rapid Recap: UConn tops Xavier in OT

By Aman Kidwai

December 18, 2024

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HARTFORD – UConn men’s basketball opened Big East play with an overtime battle, defeating Xavier 94-89 at the XL Center on Wednesday night. The game featured 22 lead changes but the Huskies were in control most of the way, leading for 29 out of 45 minutes on the night.

The contest began fairly evenly as the Husky offensive attack took some time to settle in. UConn blocked five shots in the first half as they were stifling Xavier on the other end, though at times they’d give up some easy buckets and the Musketeers were draining tough shots all night. The visitors finished at 50 percent from the field and hit more than half their threes (13-of-24) in the losing effort.

The Husky stops turned into fast-break points for UConn as the home team began to pull away, up 20-10 at one point. But Liam McNeeley and Tarris Reed caught their second fouls in the middle of the first half, leading to a 12-0 Xavier run as UConn looked out of sorts the rest of the way. They stopped the bleeding near the end but went into the break down 30-29.

The second half started similarly, with the Huskies pulling away early before it got tight again. They were up as much as five in the early going after a McNeeley three-point play, only to give up a 5-0 run that tied the game back up.

Baskets were tough to come by, especially for UConn, whose three-point shooting was cold for the second night in a row, ending at 33 percent (8-of-24) on Wednesday night. But the Huskies managed to maintain a slight lead most of the way. Xavier was up five with five minutes left but UConn responded with a 5-0 run to tie it up and it was tight the rest of the way.

With two minutes left and UConn up one, a missed Alex Karaban layup deflected off Reed to give Xavier the ball back. Dayvion Knight drew a foul, hitting both to push the visitors ahead by one. On the next possession, McNeeley made a lay-up to put the Huskies back ahead and the defense forced a loose ball out of bounds to get the ball back.

With a minute left and the ball, Reed drew a foul and hit both freebies to put the Huskies up three with around 40 seconds left. But Dante Maddox hit a three to immediately tie it back up. McNeeley drew a foul on the other end with 12 seconds left and hit both to put the Huskies ahead two with the game winding down.

On the other end, after a Xavier time-out got us to nine seconds left with the ball on the other end, UConn committed a foul before the inbound to give the Musketeers two foul shots, which they hit to tie the game at 78 each.

With a chance to win the game, McNeeley slipped as he was turning the corner on the perimeter and the ball dribbled into Ball’s hands. His three-point attempt rimmed out to send the game to overtime.

Hassan Diarra hit a three to open the extra time. Reed got the Huskies' next bucket and then they made a stop on the other end, leading to another Reed layup to put the Huskies up five with 2:46 left.

A Solo Ball steal on the other end gave the home team the ball back as Xavier fouled Ball to send him to the line. The sophomore guard hit both free throws to put UConn up seven and the Huskies held on for the win thanks to a few more stops and breakaway buckets.

Ball finished with a team-high 22 points and hit all seven of his free-throws. Reed notched a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Diarra posted one as well with 12 points and 11 assists. Karaban added 20 points with five boards, going 3-8 from behind the arc after going 0-for-7 from deep in the last game against Gonzaga.

Next up, the Huskies hit the road to take on Butler. Tip-off will be at 12 p.m. and the game will be televised on FOX. The Bulldogs are 7-4 with a game at Marquette on Wednesday night; they were ranked 74th in KenPom before the night’s action.