UConn suffered an incredibly disappointing loss in its regular-season finale at Marquette, squandering a chance to earn a share of the Big East regular-season title. The Huskies struggled through foul trouble and their worst shooting night from behind the arc all season. In a season where fans have been melting down after wins that weren’t big enough, close wins over mediocre teams, and the previous league losses to Creighton and St. John’s, this one may have drawn the most angst.
It’s never as bad as it seems, especially when your record is 27-4 and you’re going to be an NCAA Tournament 2-seed. Some thoughts after sleeping on it:
Goshdarnit
Aman: All UConn needed was to beat a down Marquette squad in their season finale to claim regular-season champions, and that was the performance they put on. The Golden Eagles were improving late in the season, but still.
In a vacuum, one bad game isn’t terrible, but the timing is atrocious. This is a missed opportunity to put a gold star on the record for this season. Of course, there are more important championships to chase, but the Huskies have just one conference regular-season title since 2006, in 2024. It’s the mark of season-long excellence and a standard that UConn should be pursuing in a league that is… not amazing.
Despite the disappointment, I don’t believe this is a precursor to disaster down the road. UConn went 3-of-24 from three and turned it over too much. That type of shooting effort can’t happen again. It probably won’t. Turnovers have been a consistent issue for this team, however. Perhaps the wide-open play of the NCAA Tournament will help them cut that down.
Most importantly, the Huskies need to find that dog in them. We thought they entered playoff mode before they whacked Villanova and St. John’s, but they’ve come down to earth since then. They have a lot of questions to answer for a 27-4 team. That feels like a solid season that should be celebrated, even if the regular season ended on a sour note. They still have a chance to redeem themselves in Madison Square Garden and, of course, the NCAA Tournament.
Also, Dan Hurley nearly made a bad day worse with his near-contact with the ref at the end of that game. He has a right to be mad, but needs to be aware of the boundaries. Hopefully, this was the reminder he needed.
The Positives
Patrick: It may not be what you want to hear right now, but there were some positive signs from this game. UConn outrebounded Marquette by a +15 margin, including 16-5 on the offensive glass. The Golden Eagles aren’t Florida when it comes to rebounding, but it’s a step in the right direction.
The Fighting Shaka Smarts had no answer for Tarris inside. Why UConn isn’t establishing the post every other possession is beyond me, maybe they were worried about foul trouble, maybe they wanted to get shooters untracked (more on that in a little). But Reed has even shown he can pass out of double teams. It’s not like he’s the only one shaky with the ball sometimes, either. Force feed the Bear!
The Huskies also went 17/18 from the free-throw line, another season-long bugaboo that probably cost them at least one game. Silas Demary Jr continues to be nails from the line in the last month since the 50% outing at St. John’s. Braylon Mullins, Alex Karaban, and Solo Ball all shoot 80% or better from the charity stripe. Tarris Reed Jr is still feast or famine, but if 80% of your starting lineup are good free-throw shooters, it probably won’t be a game-killer for postseason play.
That’s a little bit of “other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?” but rebounding and free throws are traits that take you far in postseason play.
I’m not a betting man, but I wouldn’t bank on UConn shooting 13% from three and 38% from the field — both season lows by a wide stretch — again. Take away maybe two chucks from Braylon Mullins and the rest of UConn’s misses from three were good looks within the flow of the offense. A few of those threes fall and UConn escapes with a share of the Big East crown. Math can only take it so far. You still have to play the games, but sometimes you have to chalk it up to an anomaly.
It’s the epitome of brutality to have that stinker when the casualty is a Big East regular-season trophy. But that’s better than an early exit in postseason play, right?
This Is The Floor From Three
Connor Wilson: With how poorly the Huskies shot in the loss – 3-24 from three for those who forgot – there is still a silver lining to be looked at:
It can’t get worse… and if it can, then maybe that’s just what was meant to be. If Braylon Mullins goes 1-10 again from three or Alex Karaban goes 0-5 and doesn’t make a field goal, UConn will not win. If the Huskies shoot less than 15% from three in an NCAA Tournament game, they aren’t going anywhere.
We’re all well aware that both Mullins and Karaban are much better than what the box score shows they did on Saturday. Mullins had plenty of good looks that just didn’t fall. Karaban did something that he literally had not done once in his previous 141 games in a Husky uniform. It even stems down to Solo Ball as well, who shot 2-10 and 2-7 from three. He’s certainly been more on and off compared to the other two, but the peaks we’ve seen with him are enough to keep you entertained.
It was a perfect storm for UConn shooting the basketball, just in a bad way. Saturday was tied for the worst game from three by percentage since the Huskies rejoined the Big East, matching a 2-16 performance against Michigan State in the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2021. This isn’t an everyday occurrence and can happen to any team on any night.
