UConn Men's Basketball

Recap: UConn handles DePaul, 81-68

By Serenity J. Bishop

January 1, 2025

993

UConn men's basketball traveled to Chicago and picked up its third Big East win after taking down DePaul, 81-68, on Wednesday afternoon. The Huskies have won seven in a row and improved to 20-1 all-time against the Blue Demons.

Alex Karaban started the scoring with a reverse lay-up to make it 2-0 and UConn was active on defense early on – DePaul hit just two field goals in the first ten minutes. A Karaban three made it 8-2 as he, Liam McNeeley, and the Husky big men put them up big. A McNeeley three made it 21-10 with 9:50 left in the first half as talent and size led to a stellar shooting performance and the Huskies also dominated on the glass.

UConn limited DePaul to just two made three-pointers in the entire first half. The Blue Demons' ability to hit from deep is a major part of their offense as they average nearly 12 three-pointers a game. They finished with three on the day.

UConn initially punished DePaul’s defense by going inside, scoring 18 of its first 25 points in the paint, but it was Solo Ball’s explosion from behind the arc that allowed UConn to separate late. He hit four threes in the final 3:15, netting one at the buzzer to push the lead to 43-22 at halftime.

Despite the great first half, UConn let the home team back in the game. This has happened before but on Wednesday it happened due to a key injury. McNeeley went down with an ankle injury with 13:50 left and a 22-point lead quickly slimmed down to nine.

But as the Huskies were looking hapless, Karaban and Ball stepped up to allow them to hold on for the win. Karaban hit two big three-pointers and Ball had one in between to bring the lead to 70-54. Ball finished with seven made threes and a game-high 22 points, as UConn’s ability to knock down the deep ball gave the Huskies enough to secure the win despite DePaul flipping the script late.

The Huskies improve to 11-3 going into a home matchup against Providence on Sunday. The game tips off at 2 p.m. and will be televised on NBC. The Friars have lost three in a row after getting rocked by Marquette on Tuesday. They’re currently ranked 88^th in overall efficiency in KenPom, which projects a 76-64 Husky win on Sunday.