No. 19 UConn drops sixth game of the year, losing at Xavier, 76-72

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Jan 25, 2025

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The UConn men’s basketball team hung in for as long as it could, but ultimately fell to Xavier in Cincinnati on Saturday night, 76-72.

UConn, which trailed for over 30 minutes and faced a 10-point deficit with five and a half minutes to go, had two chances to tie or take the lead in the final 30 seconds. The first shot was off from Solo Ball, who finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-for-17 shooting, and the second didn’t leave Jayden Ross’ hand in time, a shot clock violation with five seconds left that allowed the Musketeers to seal the game at the free-throw line.

The loss dropped the 19th-ranked Huskies to 14-6 on the year and 6-3 in Big East play.

Aidan Mahaney played a critical role in keeping the game close as he scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting off the bench. Samson Johnson added 12 with a career-high five blocks, and Hassan Diarra had 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Huskies captain Alex Karaban fouled out with three and a half minutes to go after scoring nine points on 4-for-13 shooting.

UConn is 3-3 in its last six games without standout freshman Liam McNeeley, who could return from his high ankle sprain later this month.

Xavier’s Zach Freemantle, who missed the Dec. 18 matchup in Hartford with a lower body injury, was one of five Musketeers in double-figure scoring as he and Dailyn Swain each posted 15 points. Dante Maddox Jr., who scored 22 against the Huskies on Dec. 18 in Hartford, contributed 14 on 5-for-6 shooting Saturday.

Xavier is now 13-8 and 5-5 in Big East play.

The Huskies were just barely hanging on in the early stages, starting 1 for 6 from the field with Diarra responsible for their first five points. He had to take a seat after his second foul came five minutes in and Xavier took advantage, building its lead to 10 with a 14-6 run over the next five minutes.

Uconn coach Dan Hurley didn’t have much of a choice but to bring Diarra back in as the game started to slip away. He brought a spark with him, immediately finishing a layup and risking another foul to steal the ball from Dayvion McKnight, starting a 7-0 spurt as Ball’s second 3-pointer got the Huskies to within three.

In a blink, the deficit was back to 10 as Xavier’s aggressive defense continued to lead to points (12 points off six UConn turnovers in the first half). UConn answered again in the game of runs, finding a toughness on defense that was non-existent early as Johnson blocked a shot and scored in transition, then Karaban made a steal and found Johnson for another easy bucket inside. Ball, again, cut the deficit to three with another triple around the four-minute mark.

Mahaney took over the final two minutes.

The former St. Mary’s star, struggling to find his way with the Huskies so far, played with a different confidence as the half came to a close. He took the lead back from the free throw line before nailing a deep 3-pointer late in the shot clock, then assisted Karaban on a layup before his second triple.

UConn, which trailed for over 15 and a half minutes in the first half, went into the break with a 41-40 lead.

The lead grew to four in the first three minutes after the break, but the Musketeers came roaring back. Xavier built its lead back to eight after Karaban was called for his fourth foul with 11:19 to go, and it got to 10 after four consecutive points from Maddox around the five-minute mark.

The Huskies continued to linger in a hard-to-watch second half that featured 37 total fouls, 22 on the Huskies. Xavier left the door open, making only 17 of 24 from the stripe, but it seemed lost when Karaban fouled out with 3:27 on the clock.

Still, UConn wasn’t going anywhere. Five straight free throws from Mahaney and Ball cut the deficit to just two with 89 seconds to. Diarra grabbed a critical offensive rebound with 25 seconds left and Hurley called a timeout, but the Huskies weren’t able to get a shot off with five seconds to go.

UConn returns to Hartford to host DePaul at the XL Center for an 8 p.m. tip on Wednesday.