UConn leaves no prisoners in final tuneup before Gonzaga

Alex Karaban set new career high with 26 points as UConn handled business against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

STORRS, Conn. — At halftime Saturday at Gampel Pavilion, UConn led Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 12 points. Whatever the message from Dan Hurley was at the intermission worked well, as the Huskies responded with 10 second-half threes to pull away for a 101-63 win.

After the game, Hurley called out his team for its first-half struggles, especially getting outrebounded 20-17 by a UAPB team that is far from imposing, yet still battled against Donovan Clingan and Samson Johnson.

“Our centers got beat, Donovan and Samson,” Hurley said, while also alluding to the prior health struggles of each. “It was disappointing. We gotta rebound it better, and they know that. I got on them.”

Being the master motivator he is, Hurley was also not pleased with the offensive execution in the opening stanza, and made it known to his team that the Huskies should have been well into the fifties on the scoreboard before settling in at 45 after the opening 20 minutes.

“At halftime, we probably should have had 57 points,” Hurley said. “We missed layups, we missed open threes, Cam didn’t have it going yet. Our defense was not the issue, it took us a while to start getting it going offensively.”

Luckily, Alex Karaban was on a mission from the opening tip and hit two threes in the opening two plus minutes to pave the way for a career-high 26 points on 6-of-9 shooting from deep. That early impression set the tone for his four second-half triples to help the Huskies pull away. There’s no complacency or doubt that hangs over Karaban, with Hurley attributing every ounce of success to the hard work he puts in at the Werth Basketball Center next door to Gampel Pavilion. Hurley compared the machine that is Karaban to something that is beyond human.

“He’s like a cyborg, man,” Hurley said about Karaban. “There’s no off switch. Over the years, the Andre Jacksons, the (Adama) Sanogos, what they’ve established work ethic-wise, Alex has built on that. We’ve got people who might as well move all their stuff in the Werth Center.”

The new scoring watermark for Karaban surpasses his previous high of 22 set against Northern Arizona in the season opener. But, to Karaban, this was just another day in the office with a second-half explosion that allow to make good on the ones he missed in the first half.

“Everything we saw in the second half was the same,” Karaban. “(I) just found the confidence to make the shots.”

With 2:34 left in the first half, UAPB’s Lonnell Martin hit two free throws to cut the Huskies lead to 33-31. UConn responded with a game-changing 12-2 run that featured a dunk from Tristen Newton, who threw it down off a missed three from Solomon Ball.

“It felt good,” Newton proclaimed. “(The) first dunk of the year always feels good. At that point, I was doing nothing in the game.”

Cam Spencer, who has become a fan favorite as much for his hustle as his 3-point range, also found his range during that run and parlayed his percolating hand into four triples in the second half. When shots are going down to the extent that Spencer and Karaban mustered in the second half, the life of a point guard reaps instant rewards.

“When you have guys like Cam and AK making them, you just feed them and ride the hot hand,” Newton said.

As Hurley likes to say, playing low-major competition is necessary this time of year, and Spencer framed it as a good way to build habits without taking any game for granted.

“Every game is just as important as the next,” Spencer said, after helping lead a UConn program to double-digit point victories 26 times in its last 27 games against non-conference foes. “Just building good habits for us going forward is what we were trying to do.”

Every game offers a new perspective for a head coach, and Saturday was a chance for freshman wing Jaylin Stewart to impress on the strength of career-highs in minutes (17) and points (7). Along with the burgeoning Stephon Castle, who flashed greatness in limited minutes in his continued buildup since recovering from injury, Stewart was given some free rein to show off his shiny offensive tools. Hurley even sounded anxious about giving Stewart a real crack at breaking into the loaded Huskies rotation going forward. Stewart’s patience has paid off in the eyes of his peers as well.

“I’m super happy for him and he deserves it,” Karaban said with Stewart. “You see him in practice where he’s confident and making tough moves. Just to see that happen in a game is awesome. There’s some momentum for him heading into his hometown in Seattle.”

The Huskies will now have five days to prepare for Seattle and the matchup that looms with Gonzaga, who agreed to a multi-year series with the Huskies that will bring the Bulldogs to Madison Square Garden next season for a sequel. The rest is much-needed, and will give Clingan, Johnson and Castle a chance to nurse their bodies ahead of the heavyweight fight that’s expected.

“We’re obviously banged up with some injuries,” Karaban said. “We’ll be fully rested heading into a big game.”

Saturday was about taking care of business against a well-traveled Arkansas-Pine Bluff team who was fresh off playing at both Oklahoma and Gonzaga. But it’s well documented that Hurley lives for big games, with last season’s special ending of a national championship being the perfect illustration. He wants every part of what Friday in Seattle has in store.

“The (North) Carolinas at the Garden, the Gonzagas in Seattle, going into the Big East, this is what it’s all about,” he gushed. “Every win feels great as opposed to not trying to blow your season up.”