Karaban’s career night sends UConn back to Sweet 16 after Huskies lock down UCLA late

PHILADELPHIA — Alex Karaban was hardest on himself in the wake of his UConn team not capitalizing on its chance to win a second Big East tournament championship in three years.

The senior and all-time winningest Husky in program history took on the lion’s share of the responsibility after falling on the wrong side of a 20-point loss to St. John’s on March 14, emphasizing on multiple occasions that he could not come up empty in high-leverage situations if he and his team were to be the last men standing for a third time in his college career.

That latest self-pep talk has produced a postseason that can be best described, to borrow baseball parlance with regard to one of the game’s best hitters, as Alex being Alex.

Two nights after scoring 22 points against Furman to supplement a generational performance by Tarris Reed, Jr., it was Karaban’s turn to take center stage Sunday, leading all scorers with 27 markers as UConn kicked away from UCLA in the second half to score a 73-57 second-round NCAA Tournament victory.

“I definitely don’t want my career to end,” Karaban reiterated as the Huskies (31-5) returned to the Sweet 16 for a third time in four seasons. “I’m doing everything in my power to help lead this team to make sure that happens and get the win, doing anything possible to make sure I get the win.”

On this particular night, everything in Karaban’s power included leading the offense through an opening sequence where UConn had difficulty establishing itself against UCLA’s interior defense. The Bruins double-teamed Reed, two nights removed from amassing 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman, on nearly all of his touches in the first half, and with Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins not being able to convert on open shots, the onus fell to Karaban to yet again ignite the engine.

He did exactly that, accounting for 11 of the Huskies’ first 15 points and turning in an effort that head coach Dan Hurley said was symbolic of his winning pedigree, as well as of the learning moment he found in the wake of deflating losses to both Marquette and St. John’s.

“What you’re going to see, what you saw or what you’ve seen in this NCAA Tournament, is a guy that’s attacking the game,” he said of Karaban. “He’s aggressively looking for all of his shots, he’s working his way to the ball, he’s driving the ball. I just think that he learned a lot from that Big East championship game (and) that game at Marquette, where he left those games not going out on his shield the way a player of his caliber should. I think that’s the difference. He’s not going down without firing all of his bullets.”

Still, even as UConn took a five-point lead into halftime, UCLA made two defiant last stands. The Bruins used an 11-4 run to retake a two-point advantage just over four minutes out of the intermission, but it was countered by a 14-0 Husky spurt in which Karaban commenced and culminated the outburst with 10 points, punctuating the rally with a pair of threes, the second from the top of the key. A 10-2 UCLA stretch brought the No. 7 seed within four points with just over seven minutes to play in regulation, but after five straight UConn points to respond, Bruins head coach Mick Cronin was assessed a technical foul. Fittingly, it was Karaban who sank the ensuing free throws, keeping the second-seeded Huskies ahead by double digits for the duration of the contest.

Not much is missing from Karaban’s resume at this point, with two national championships, the program’s wins record and a spot in the Huskies of Honor already in the bank for the Massachusetts native. But the prospect of adding to his legacy by channeling past March UConn legends the likes of Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier, all of whom closed their careers in Storrs by turning up the heat one last time on the greatest stage in the sport, is something that has kept his competitive fire burning, and also become an inspiration among his teammates.

“I think just having him on this team and having the experience in this tournament, I think he can just take us wherever we need to go,” Braylon Mullins said of Karaban and his presence. “We all have the confidence in him, and he’s our leader. We all look up to him, he holds the standard with this program.”

Karaban echoed that sentiment, uncharacteristically revealing one of his own desires as he authors the final pages of a career that, no matter how it ends, will be among the most prolific in college basketball history. He is, however, hoping to make room for one more testimonial before hanging up his jersey for good.

“It’s a motivating factor for myself,” he said of the quest to walk away victorious. “I ultimately came back here to win. Every time I’ve had a decision to come back, I came back just wanting to win and help this team out, but (I’m) also just enjoying every second I have in a UConn jersey.”