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NEW YORK –- There were six and a half minutes left on the game clock at Madison Square Garden Friday night when Tarris Reed Jr. used one dribble in the post to clear Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner out of the way for a floater off the glass. That shot brought the UConn men, trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, to within three.
With the way they’d been rolling in March, Reed’s shot and the 18-6 scoring run that it capped made it feel like a comeback from one of the worst defensive halves of the season was in the cards for the Huskies.
Reed blocked Kalkbrenner at the other end of the court but UConn missed seven of its next 10 shots and Creighton closed the game on a 13-6 run. It was the unnecessary last-second windmill dunk from Jamiya Neal and everything that came after it – Hassan Diarra taking exception and clenching his fists in a moment that could’ve gotten uglier – that was a more accurate summation of this frustrating season.
No way out: UConn men dig too deep a hole, fall to Creighton in Big East semifinals, 71-62
Diarra said he felt the showboat play was “disrespectful to the game of basketball.”
Neal apologized and said he regretted it, that he got caught up in the moment and has respect for Dan Hurley and the two-time national champions.
Hurley had moved past it, still disappointed in the first half where Creighton shot 75% from the field and the issues that plagued his team all season came back to haunt.
“I think the two teams that are deserving to play for the championship are going to play. We were the third-best team, I guess, in the regular season. Third-best team doesn’t deserve to play for a championship,” Hurley said to open his postgame news conference. “We got exactly what we deserved.”
Takeaways from the semifinal exit:
Hurley expresses optimism
All the Huskies can do now is wait for Selection Sunday. The win over Villanova and the loss to Creighton in Manhattan shouldn’t change much as far as their seeding goes, likely to be a No. 8 in which case they’d meet a No. 9 seed in the first round for a chance to play the No. 1 or the No. 16 in the Round of 32.
For the two-time national champs, getting to the second weekend this year as a No. 8 seed would be an achievement.
Still, as long as the odds, the two-time reigning national champions have some level of optimism given what they’ve been able to do the last two years. As much trouble as the Big East has given them, the game planning from Hurley and his assistants has overwhelmed less familiar opponents in the nonconference – aside from the Maui Invitational, but the team has come a long way from what it was there.
“I do think that this team is built, potentially to play better in an NCAA Tournament just because the games are much different than these brutal Big East games,” Hurley said. “These games are brutally physical, so I think that the NCAA Tournament offers us some optimism.”
Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: March mystique can only take Dan Hurley’s Huskies so far, and more
Positive bench production
The Huskies got 19 points from their bench against Villanova and 17 against Creighton, and they didn’t all come from Tarris Reed Jr., the Big East Sixth Man of the Year.
Aidan Mahaney, the St. Mary’s transfer who’s struggled with the physicality of the league, played valuable minutes in both Big East Tournament games and is capable of continuing his surging play as the Huskies’ backup point guard in the NCAA Tournament. Jaylin Stewart emerged as well, like he did late last season, and showed positive signs, particularly on the defensive end of the quarterfinal game against Villanova. Stewart was plus-five in the Creighton loss.
Jayden Ross, vying for position as the Huskies’ ninth-man, made a 3-pointer in his six minutes against the Bluejays. He isn’t expected to be punished in the NCAA Tournament after being ejected with 1.5 seconds left against Creighton, after he ran off the bench to get involved in the scuffle.
Best need to be best
UConn couldn’t afford captain Alex Karaban picking up his fourth foul with more than 15 minutes left in Friday’s game. As much as he struggled, scoring six points on 3-for-10 shooting, only one rebound and one assist, Karaban is a critical part of the operation.
Ironically, the Huskies’ biggest run of the game (12-0) came after he went out. Stewart, Reed and Mahaney were all part of it, as was Liam McNeeley, who shot just 6-for-20 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3. UConn’s top three leading scorers – Solo Ball, McNeeley and Karaban – combined for 32 points on 14-for-39 (35.9%) shooting from the field and just 2-for-13 (15.4%) from beyond the arc.
“We’re not gonna win many games when Liam and Alex struggle to that level offensively,” Hurley said. “It’s going to be tough for us versus anyone in any tournament there.”
