UConn Shocked in OT Loss to Seton Hall
UConn men’s basketball traveled to Newark to meet basement-dwelling Seton Hall and left with a surprising loss to fall to 17-8 (9-5 Big East) on the season.
The Huskies were favored by 14 points by the oddsmakers and 10 points in KenPom but failed to hold on to a late lead at the end of regulation and let another late lead slide in overtime. With six seconds left up by one, Solo Ball was stripped of the ball and Scotty Middleton followed up his first layup attempt with a tip-in to win the game, 69-68.
After a defensive slugfest through the first ten minutes, the hosts pulled into the lead, up by as much as eight with 3:45 left. Ball and Liam McNeeley were scoring early but turnovers and missed shots were piling up. A Ball three and a Karaban tip-in helped the Huskies cut the lead to 25-22 at halftime.
The second half saw a lot of the same, though UConn sprang into action as Karaban hit a three, after missing everything behind the arc in his last two games, to cut the Pirate lead to two.
Ball hit a three to put the Huskies ahead by two and in the final minutes it seemed like Dan Hurley’s squad was in control. McNeeley and Karaban hit back-to-back threes to push the lead to seven with just under two minutes left. This marked Karaban’s first two-three-pointer game since January 21 against Butler.
Hassan Diarra hit two free throws with 0:45 left to seemingly ice the game, putting UConn up seven again. But calamity ensued.
Ball fouled Dylan Addae-Wusu on a three-pointer, and he hit all three, cutting the lead down to four. At the free-throw line with 18 seconds left, Ball hit his first attempt but missed the second, giving the ball back with the Huskies up five. Addae-Wusu quickly hit a lay-up to cut the lead to three and then Seton Hall got the ball back again because UConn had a five-second violation on its inbound attempt.
After a dunk attempt clanged the rim, Seton Hall grabbed the offensive rebound and Addae-Wusu hit a three to send the game to overtime.
In OT, a quick Seton Hall foul, a McNeeley lay-in, and a Ball three pushed the visitors’ lead to four. Isaiah Coleman hit a lay-up to cut the lead to three but Tarris Reed Jr. hit two free throws to push it back to five with 0:59 left.
Reed Jr. committed a quick foul to let Seton Hall cut it to three after free throws. McNeeley turned it over twice on the next two Husky possessions, including an attempted deep pass to Karaban on an inbound play that went out of bounds on the other end. Coleman hit free throws to cut the lead to one and then Ball lost the ball after the next inbound attempt to open the door for the game-winning lay-up.
Next, the Huskies are back home to host Villanova for the second meeting between the two teams. They lost in Philadelphia after Alex Karaban missed two free throws with three seconds left and the Huskies were down one. Villanova is 15-10 (8-6 Big East) and ranked 52nd in KenPom (15th Offense, 138th Defense), which projects a 75-70 UConn win. The game tips off at 6:30 p.m. from the XL Center and will be televised on FS1.
Box Score
Team Stats
Win Probability
