Karaban’s maturation shows in clutch performance, leading UConn over Texas

Alex Karaban led UConn with 20 points and several dagger buckets down stretch as Huskies defeated Texas Monday. (Photo by The Connecticut Post)

By Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman)

NEW YORK — Texas was in the midst of its best stretch of the game. 

An Ithiel Horton 3-pointer had cut a once 16-point UConn lead to three with under five minutes to play. Then, with five seconds left on the shot clock, Alex Karaban received the ball from Tristen Newton a few steps above the left wing. He took two dribbles, performed a jump stop, released a floater from 10 feet away, and nailed it.

Karaban isn’t new to being a late-clock threat, as he was reliable off the catch as a 3-point shooter last season, but this year, his role has changed. With the departure of three players to the NBA, Karaban has assumed the role as UConn’s top scorer, averaging 16.8 points per game through five games. Monday, in front of the bright lights, he emerged as the go-to guy in clutch situations as the Huskies grabbed an 81-71 win over the Longhorns at Madison Square Garden in the Empire Classic championship game.

The game began with Karaban scoring in the same way he made his money last year. With the shot clock winding down, he received the extra pass from Cam Spencer in the right corner, and deposited a 3-pointer. He made four treys on the evening, but none of the four were the shots that will be remembered from this night.

After the floater to put the Huskies up by six, the Longhorns went down the court and missed a three. On the ensuing UConn possession, Samson Johnson held the ball over his head at the top of the key after losing his dribble. Karaban created a sliver of separation from Max Abmas to receive the ball and immediately backed him down towards the baseline. Then, with the shot clock running down, he uncorked a baseline fadeaway that found nylon to put Connecticut up by eight.

“I heard Tristen yell at me to shoot it,” Karaban said. “I just have to trust my teammates to shoot it.”

Head coach Dan Hurley added the entire bench was screaming at Karaban, but the Southborough, Massachusetts native only heard the plea of his point guard. It was all he needed to hear.

Having played on a national championship team, Karaban was in the presence of three NBA players and countless timely shotmakers last season. While he was undoubtedly a key piece of that team, his role for this one builds on what he learned from last season’s stars.

“I learned from Jordan (Hawkins) to just trust my work and always have confidence,” Karaban said. “I saw it every day in their work. Every day in practice that they were always hitting those shots, they just always trusted their skills, and it translated to the game.”

Karaban finished with 20 points tonight on just 14 shots. Efficiency has been a hallmark of his game, not only in the stat sheet, but in his movements. Everything about Karaban seems calculated. His fundamentals are so strong, and his ability to get to his spots under control has always been there, but this year, it’s being featured for this UConn team.

“Alex is an NBA player,” Hurley said. “This sport is all about confidence and preparation, and this guy is the hardest worker you’ll ever coach. He just rolled up and he doesn’t have a lot of distractions.”

As the fifth starter on last year’s championship team, Karaban was naturally underappreciated, and he’s just now starting to get the recognition he always deserved.

“He was the best rookie in the Big East last year,” Hurley proclaimed. “He never gets the credit that he deserves. I know me and Luke (Murray) try to take a lot of the credit for the offense, but we didn’t get good on offense until Alex got here. When you have a four man that processes the game the way he does and keeps your group organized, and that also has the clutch gene, he’s a special player.”

For his final act, with the clock reading just over a minute to play, and the shot clock once again winding down, he delivered what would be the dagger. The Huskies ran a long-developing set to eat time off the clock, and Newton drove the lane. The ball found Karaban in the corner with the shot clock at three, and a few dribbles later, he hit an off-balance 20-footer from two steps inside the right wing to put UConn’s lead back at eight points.

The scariest part about Karaban’s growth is that it hasn’t even finished yet.

“Jordan Hawkins was a much different player at the end of his sophomore year than at the beginning,” Hurley said, expecting the same growth from his star second-year player this season as well.