Huskies Face Quick Turn, Battle Colorado Tuesday

On By Littum

LAHAINA, Hawaii – After suffering its first defeat of the 2024-25 campaign in dramatic fashion on Monday, the No. 2 The UConn men’s basketball team (4-1) returned to the floor at the Lahaina Civic Center on Tuesday in the consolation game of the 2024 Maui Invitational. The Huskies will take on Colorado (4-1) to open Tuesday’s action in Lahaina at 3:30 ET / 10:30 HT, airing on ESPN2 with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas on the call.

UConn and Colorado have met once before, with the lone meeting coming in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Huskies came away with a 74-67 victory on March 17, 2016 behind Rodney Purvis’ 19 points and a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double from Daniel Hamilton. Connecticut is now 9-4 all-time in Maui, making its fifth appearance in the tournament.

The Huskies saw their 17-game winning streak, the nation’s longest, come to an end with the help of a 99-97 overtime setback to Memphis in the Maui opener. In a see-saw affair that was tied at halftime, Memphis built a double-digit lead late in the second half. The Huskies stormed back in emphatic fashion, erasing a 12-point deficit in the final three minutes to force overtime. Solo ball hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final second of regulation to send the contest to overtime. In overtime, the contest was again tied inside the final minute, but a late free throw rush by Memphis helped the Tigers clinch.

The UConn reserves provided a big spark which Tarris Reed Jr. had a career day with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Jaylin Stewart set a career high with 16 points. Alex Karaban added 19 points and a game-high six assists as one of six Huskies in double figures. Karaban leads the Huskies this year with 16.8 points per game. game and adds 4.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. match. Reed Jr. has added 13.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on 75.0 percent shooting, and posted double-doubles as a reserve in three of his first five games as a Husky.

Colorado also lost its first game of the season on Monday, dropping a 72-56 decision to Michigan State in the Maui quarterfinals. The Buffaloes are led by Elijah Malone’s 14.0 points per game and get 12.2 per contest from Andrej Jakimovski.

After Tuesday’s contest, the Huskies return to play on Wednesday in Maui with a time and opponent to be determined.