UConn took a 6-2 lead after connecting on three of its first four shots, until their execution stalled and both teams became wildly sloppy with the ball. With Donovan Clingan hitting the bench with two quick fouls, Providence responded with an 8-0 run and led for the next 17 minutes of the first half, but by only as many as seven points, at 18-11. Surprisingly, UConn couldn’t get out of its own way in the early going, which included a stretch of three consecutive turnovers in its own backcourt and starting off 0-for-6 from three on mostly clean looks to set the tone for a lackluster offensive night for a Huskies team that entered ranked 28th in the country at 82 points per game.
“That was a complete embarrassment to start the game,” said Dan Hurley, emphasizing the offensive rebounds his team allowed. “That was a complete joke.”
The spark for the Friars wasn’t from star player Devin Carter, but instead from Josh Oduro. The George Mason transfer led the Friars with nine first-half points and posed a matchup problem for Clingan, who only logged four minutes in the first half. Oduro was the glue for an otherwise shaky offensive performance for the Friars who had no choice to accept a chess match against the Huskies while Carter was 2-of-8 from the field in the first half. To make matters worse, the officials kept their whistles close to their mouths the whole night, including a charge call on Carter with 42 seconds left in the opening stanza after the Huskies had already regained the lead.
The first half rollercoaster took a grim turn for a moment when Alex Karaban came down clutching his ankle at the 10:31 mark following a made layup. Karaban needed some assistance as he walked back to the locker room gingerly, only to reappear six minutes later and provide an instant spark. As proper maintenance for his team’s Big East-leading 5.45 blocks per game, Karaban promptly stuffed a shot from Jayden Pierre on one end, and then on the other was set up by Cam Spencer for a straightaway three that regained a lead for UConn at 25-24 with 3:17 left.
“He’s the toughest guy, man,” Hurley said of Karaban, who finished with 12 points in an arduous 33 minutes. “He was compromised. He was probably 70 percent.”
Karaban’s triple was UConn’s first three of the night, and Spencer followed suit for the second less than a minute later. The Huskies won this game only shooting 4-for-23 from three-point range, including a rare 2-for-13 output from Karaban and Spencer. The duo entered the contest as one of only five pairs of teammates to each shoot over 40 percent from deep on at least 100 attempts. They are the only high-major tandem that qualify.
The second half started chippy and more whistles joined the fray. Clingan was whistled for his third foul at the 18:08 mark, contesting a turnaround hook shot from Oduro. It looked like minimal contact, and Hurley argued his way to earning a technical foul.
“I thought I should have been allowed to blow off a little steam there,” said Hurley, who still believed that particular iteration of officials is good enough to call Final Four games when at its collective best.
Clingan was still effective on offense when he needed to be in his 15 minutes of action. After sitting for almost nine minutes, the big man came up with a big offensive board and lay-in to extend the lead to seven, at 53-46. He finished with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting fresh off being named to the Big East Honor Roll for his 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots in Sunday’s win over Xavier.
“Oduro is a tough matchup,” Hurley said of Clingan getting into foul trouble. “Him catching and facing and playing off the dribble like a guard is not the greatest of matchups for Donovan. I suffered over when to put him back in.”
Hurley’s outburst may have had an effect on rallying the Huskies, as Castle hit back-to-back threes to turn a three-point deficit into a 37-34 lead. With the way Providence limped out of the gate, it felt like UConn would pull away with ease, but that just wasn’t in the Huskies’ cards on a day where Clingan could hardly stay off the bench due to foul trouble and UConn only received four bench points to boot.
UConn outscored Providence in the second half, 45-37, with Providence getting as close as within four points after a fast break lay-in from Carter. Despite each not having his best game, Carter and Oduro chipped in 20 points apiece before the latter ultimately fouled out with 35 seconds left.
“We gutted it out,” Hurley assessed. “It’s not gonna go in our highlight reel in terms of the prettiest games that we will play. We’ve dealt with adversity, but have figured out how to get to 9-1 at the halfway point and 19-2 (overall), which is pretty good.”
Hurley referred to Castle’s performance as a coming out party of sorts. The freshman was an assassin around the rim, converting seven of his 14 field goals and two of his four tries from long distance. His main highlight reel came on an alley-oop feed in transition from Tristen Newton at the 4:39 mark of the first half. On a day where UConn didn’t shoot the ball well, Castle’s offensive prowess was just what the doctor ordered for the Huskies.
“Steph saved us tonight,” Hurley said. “I am not sure if there is a freshman in the country who has played as well as he did tonight. When we’re clicking on all cylinders, he brings that missing element of physical driving and finishing.”
UConn closes out January a perfect 8-0, with five wins coming at home. Last season’s team went 3-6 in the month of January amid its notable stretch of losing five out of seven games. UConn is not afraid to drop a game, as Hurley noted after the beatdown of Xavier, and any setbacks here on out will only make the Huskies for motivated come March when back-to-back title aspirations will be on the line.
“It was one of those Big East battles that we had to gut out,” Spencer said after the game. “I don’t think any of us are really happy with the win, but we’re happy we pulled it out. We have a lot of work to do before Saturday.”
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