Rapid Recap: Huskies fall to Creighton in tough Gampel showing
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It’s no secret that the bad blood between Creighton and UConn men’s basketball was going to set up some exciting basketball in Storrs, as both programs were set to duel in an exciting weekend matchup at Gampel Pavilion.
Unfortunately for UConn, the Blue Jays came to play, handing the Huskies a brutal 68-63 score in front of the home crowd.
What makes the loss sting even more is how this one started, a fiery beginning thanks to the skills of Solo Ball. The sophomore guard dazzled early with two triples to electrify the Connecticut fanbase and, most importantly, a 10-2 lead. But, Creighton was right with their opponents, firing back with the help of senior guard Jamiya Neal. The Arizona State transfer had his hands all over the decision of this one, but his play really made a difference in the first half.
This one truly took a turn in the final minute of the first half. Separated by just a single bucket in the final 60 seconds of the contest, Creighton snuck in 7 extra points courtesy of a Neal triple and three late free throws from Isaac Traudt on a foul from Jaylin Stewart. Just like that, the Blue Jays had all the momentum going into the half.
For Connecticut, the team had to come out of the half with the heart of a Husky and not allow their opponents to run away with this one. It set up an exciting 20 minutes for UConn that would truly push this one down to the wire.
It began similar to what the first half looked like, another bucket courtesy of Neal. But, the team would remain locked in on the ultimate prize, narrowing their deficit down and ultimately forcing a tie game with 15:29 thanks to a huge second-chance jumper from Alex Karaban. Just like that, it was a brand-new ball game
Yet, Creighton wasn’t going away and they responded with 9 straight points thanks to the trio of Traudt, Neal, and Kalkbrenner, going up by 7 with 11:22 to go in the contest. And, despite UConn cutting it to just 4 with 9:32 to go, the visitors would extend their lead to 9 with 7 minutes to go in the game.
However, this is where things truly started to get interesting. UConn would wake up on both sides of the floor and the offense especially would start to catch fire. Ball made a pair of crucial buckets, while Stewart drilled a huge three-pointer. Following a foul on Samson Johnson, No. 35 had a huge chance to give Connecticut their first lead since just under the 15-minute mark in the second half and he’d capitalize, knocking two easy ones at the stripe.
The game was close and the momentum was on UConn’s side, but Creighton just wouldn’t seem to go away. It all set up a situation toward the end of the contest with under 20 seconds left and the home squad down by just a single point. Unfortunately for the Huskies, a pair of fouls on both Kalkbrenner and Ashworth would give Creighton all they needed to walk out of Storrs with a 5-point victory over the No. 14 team in the nation.
Box Score
Team Stats
Win Probability
