Colorado gives no. 2 UConn its second loss in 2 days at the Maui Invitational

No. 2 UConn entered the Maui Invitational as the favorite in a stacked field to win the Feast Week showcase.

Instead, it has a date for the battle for seventh place. Unranked Colorado rallied for a 73-72 victory over UConn on Tuesday. The loss was the second in two games for the Huskies in Maui.

UConn dropped a 99-97 overtime thriller on Monday to unranked Memphis. The game featured an outburst from head coach Dan Hurley directed at the referees that resulted in a costly technical foul in overtime. Hurley doubled against the officials in the a relentless postgame rant who did not take responsibility for his technical errors.

Tuesday brought further disappointment for a UConn team that is off to a rough start in its quest for a third straight national championship. The Huskies are now 4-2 without having played a ranked team.

This week should be UConn’s first test against a fellow contender in a Maui field that also features No. 4 Auburn, no. 5 Iowa State and no. 12 in North Carolina. There is still a chance to encounter a ranked enemy if no. 5 Iowa State drops its second game of the tournament to Dayton later Tuesday. If Iowa State advances, UConn will leave Maui still looking for its first test against a top-25 team.

Colorado rallies behind hot 3-point shooting

UConn held the lead Tuesday throughout the first half, leading 40-32 at halftime. But hot 3-point shooting allowed the Buffaloes to rally after halftime. Colorado took its first lead on a Julian Hammond 3-pointer at 48-46. It then took the lead at 57-56 on an RJ Smith 3.

UConn repeatedly answered the Colorado runs and held a 72-69 lead with 1:29 left. But Colorado scored the final four points of the game, including a layup in traffic by Andrej Jakimovski.

UConn had one last look at the basket after a timeout with 5.9 seconds left. But Hassan Diarra’s 3-point attempt clinked off the rim just before the final buzzer sounded.

For the game, Colorado shot 51.1% from the field including a 9-of-16 (56.3%) effort from 3-point range. Hammond led the way with a 4-for-5 effort from long range en route to 16 points. Jakimovski hit 2 of 4 3-point attempts on his way to 12 points and 10 rebounds. Elijah Malone tied Hammond for the team scoring lead with 16 points on a 6-for-10 shooting effort from the field.

The Huskies finished the game without starting center Samson Johnson and backup center Tarris Reed Jr., who both struck out. They countered Colorado’s effective shooting with a 48.1% rate from the field and a 12-of-31 (38.7%) effort from long range. Liam McNeely led the way with 20 points while shooting 4 of 6 from 3. But it wasn’t enough to overcome Colorado’s second-half rally.

Hurley was heated again when officials declined to call a loose ball foul on Colorado on a physical offensive rebound that set up the game-winning shot.

An over-the-back call against UConn on another contested rebound was the source of Hurley’s anger with officials on Monday.

Colorado advances to face the winner of Iowa State and Dayton in the fifth-place game on Wednesday. UConn will face the loser.

Auburn will take on North Carolina and Memphis will take on Michigan State in the winner-takes-all semifinals.