UConn men's basketball's upset bid falls short as Huskies fall to No. 1 seed Florida in Round of 32, 77-75

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Mar 23, 2025

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The UConn men’s basketball team wouldn’t relinquish its crown without a fight.

Minutes from an upset of top-seed Florida, the reigning back-to-back national champions saw their record-long 13-game NCAA Tournament winning streak come to an end after a valiant effort at the Lenovo Center Sunday afternoon, the final score 77-75.

The Huskies held a slim lead through most of the second half, but Gators’ leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. led the charge in the final three minutes as Florida, a 9.5-point favorite, ultimately pulled away. Clayton scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the Gators made 10 of 13 from the field over the final 10 minutes.

Freshman Liam McNeeley nailed a meaningless 3-pointer at the final buzzer to finish with a team-high 22 points for the Huskies, while two-time champs Alex Karaban and Samson Johnson added 14 and 10. Johnson recorded the second double-double of his career as he grabbed nine of his 10 rebounds in the first half.

Hassan Diarra’s impact wasn’t fully represented in the stat sheet as he battled his way to six points, five assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals.

But the Huskies couldn’t overcome their 32.4% shooting in the first half, just 4 for 18 (22.2%) from beyond the arc, to be the first to knock off a No. 1 seed in the 2025 Tournament.

Florida advanced to play the winner of No. 12-seed Colorado State and No. 4 Maryland in the Sweet 16 in San Francisco.

Dan Hurley had been pleading for his players to let it fly, and the Huskies answered his call. Only, the shots didn’t fall. Still, shooting 3 for 17 to start the game, the Huskies’ pesky defense forced six turnovers and kept them in the game, only trailing by one through the first eight minutes as Florida started just 5 for 14 from the field.

Karaban gave the Huskies their first lead of the game when his first shot fell from beyond the arc, making the score 18-16 with seven and a half minutes to go. Alijah Martin, who had a game-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half, answered with a 3 of his own to end a six-minute stretch without a Gators’ made field goal. UConn’s trio of two-time champs used its experience to guide the way through the rest of the half, making the hustle plays to keep Florida on edge.

Diarra fought to continue his career; he was everywhere on the court and the effort was rewarded just before the half as he pulled up from deep 3-point range to beat the shot clock and tie the game, 31-all, at the break.

Diarra found Johnson, another veteran giving everything he had, to start the scoring in the second half with a pair of buckets at the rim. Johnson’s third foul came less than two minutes into the half, and Diarra drove into the lane and finished a tough layup through a foul, the three-point play giving UConn a six-point advantage.

The Huskies maintained their slim lead through the first 17 minutes of the second half, until Clayton hit a 3-pointer with three minutes to go and Will Richard sprinted the court for a transition dunk that made the score 64-61 at the 2:30 mark.

Solo Ball, who made just one of his first nine shots, tied the game with a 3-pointer. But Clayton, the Gators’ leading scorer, made another triple with a minute to go that created insurmountable separation.

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