No way out: UConn men dig too deep a hole, fall to Creighton in Big East semifinals, 71-62

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Mar 14, 2025

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NEW YORK — The UConn men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome the crater it put itself in on Friday night, falling to No. 2 seed Creighton in the Big East Tournament semifinal at Madison Square Garden, 71-62.

The Huskies fell behind by as many as 17 points early in the second half as Creighton made 21 of its first 30 shots from the field (70%). They made a valiant effort to climb back to within three with six and a half minutes to go, but nothing went UConn’s way down the stretch.

Falling to 23-10 on the year, the Huskies will await their NCAA Tournament seeding on Sunday.

Creighton will meet No. 1 seed St. John’s in the championship game Saturday night.

Liam McNeeley and Solo Ball scored 13 points a piece to lead the way for the Huskies as captain Alex Karaban played only 26 minutes after being called for his fourth foul with 15 and a half minutes remaining. Hassan Diarra, who only made one 3-pointer since Feb. 7 against St. John’s, made three in the first half as he finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Jamiya Neal, who has had some of his best games this season against the Huskies, scored the first nine points of the night for the Bluejays and finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth scored 12 points apiece as Jasen Green led the way with 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting.

Karaban tied the game at 28 with a layup around the seven-minute mark in the first half, but the Huskies went the next four minutes without scoring and a trio of failed defensive assignments started an 11-0 Creighton run. McNeeley made a pair of layups to break up the momentum, but the Bluejays were unfazed as Jasen Green made all seven of his shots for 15 first-half points.

Aidan Mahaney, who provided 16 productive minutes off the bench Thursday, hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer — UConn’s sixth on nine attempts — and the team ran off the court, coaches fired up, but not because of the made shot.

The Huskies followed their best defensive half of the season, holding Villanova to 20.8% shooting in the second half Thursday night, with their worst to start Friday’s semifinal as Creighton closed the half with a 46-35 lead, shooting 18 for 24 (75%) from the field and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc. The Bluejays had a 15-10 rebounding advantage at the break.

The second half didn’t start much better.

McNeeley was called for an intentional foul after a 50-50 ball got into the hands of Steven Ashworth with a clear path to the hoop, gifting the Bluejays two free throws and possession. Kalkbrenner hit a jump hook and the Huskies turned the ball over on a shot clock violation. Creighton came out of the break on a 9-3 run as its lead swelled to 17 points.

The Bluejays had to cool off eventually. They went scoreless for over five minutes and UConn capitalized with a 12-0 run, getting within five as McNeeley finished a three-point play, Tarris Reed Jr. made a monster block on a layup attempt from Neal, then grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked out to Mahaney for an open 3-pointer in front of the Huskies’ bench.

Reed made it a three-point game, trading buckets inside with Kalkbrenner with six and a half minutes to go. Neal made his third 3-pointer as the Bluejays used a 7-2 run to get back up eight in the final three minutes and put the game away from the free throw line.

But it wasn’t without some late-game dramatics, as Diarra took exception to Neal dunking with 1.5 seconds left on the clock, the game in hand. The two were called for dual technicals, and Jayden Ross was ejected from the game for leaving the Huskies’ bench and sprinting across the court.