HARTFORD, Conn. — Even if the competition wasn’t on par with what the UConn men’s basketball team faced earlier this week, the Huskies earned a win they badly needed Saturday, defeating Maryland Eastern Shore 99-45.
UConn was without its leader and best player, forward Alex Karaban, who was hospitalized with concussion symptoms following a head injury suffered during Wednesday night’s loss to Dayton in Maui. Karaban joined the team on its flight home and was declared inactive for the game against UMES about 30 minutes prior to tip off.
RELATED: Karaban goes to hospital with head injury after No. 2 UConn's loss to Dayton in Maui Invitational
It must have felt great to return to the XL Center for a UConn team that lost three consecutive games during the Maui Invitational tournament in Hawaii just days ago. The Huskies swarmed their inferior opponent, never trailing after erasing a 2-0 deficit in the first minute.
Despite a seven-minute scoring drought near the end of the first half that resembled their play against Dayton, UConn had a strong first half, taking a 40-18 lead into the break.
The Huskies improved in the second half, scoring the first eight points of the frame. UConn extended its lead to 51 points with approximately four minutes to play. The lead was the team’s largest since beating Long Island 114-61 on Dec. 10, 2022. The final 44-point margin of victory on Saturday was reflective of UConn’s dominance over UMES.
Playing without Karaban, UConn’s leading scorer, several underclassmen stepped up and delivered Saturday evening. Although he shot just 1-8 from three-point range, freshman forward Liam McNeeley finished the game with 16 points. He made all seven of his free throws and added five rebounds.
Sophomore forward Jaylin Stewart also made seven free throws and scored 16 points on the night. Stewart, who is making a case for more playing time, secured seven rebounds and dished out three assists as well.
Sophomore guard Solo Ball hit two three-pointers and scored 12 points. Coming off the bench, sophomore forward Jayden Ross had a double-double, scoring 10 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior Michigan transfer Tarris Reed Jr., a center, joined Ross with 10 points and had a double-double, bringing in a team-high 12 rebounds.
Aidan Mahaney, a junior guard who transferred from St. Mary’s with high expectations, scored 11 points with four assists and hopes to have broken out of his slump.
UMES was led by junior guard Ketron Shaw, who scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. No other Hawk scored in double figures Saturday.
On the evening, UConn made 32 of its 59 field goal attempts, shooting 54.2%. UMES shot just 15-50 at a 30% rate. The Huskies made 10 of their 27 three-point attempts, good enough for 37%. The Hawks made just two of 14 attempts from behind the arc at a 14.3% rate.
UMES shot only 52% from the free throw line, going just 13-25, while UConn shot 25-27, good enough for 92.6%.
The Huskies secured 48 rebounds compared to the Hawks’ 23. In a glaring stat, UConn had 23 assists compared to only four for UMES. The turnovers were relatively even, as UConn had 10 and UMES had 11.
UConn improves to 5-3 with the victory and snaps a three-game losing skid. The Huskies are back in action on Wednesday against No. 17 Baylor on FS1 at 6:30 p.m.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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