University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Dayton
Huskies Close Run In Maui With Dayton, Wednesday
11/27/2024 6:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LAHAINA, Hawaii – The No. 2 UConn men's basketball team (4-2) concludes its run at the 2024 Maui Invitational with a seventh-place game against Dayton (5-2) on Wednesday night. The Huskies and Flyers will square off for the fourth time in program histories at 12 a .m. ET / 7 p.m. HT on ESPN2 with Kanoa Leahey and Cory Alexander on the call.
The Huskies and Flyers are both looking to leave Hawaii with a win after tough 0-2 starts in Lahaina. UConn is mired in its first losing streak since Jan. 2023 after falling to Memphis and Colorado in its first two games in Maui by a combined three points. Dayton dropped its opener to North Carolina by two before a five-point setback to Iowa State last night.
In its most recent outing against Colorado yesterday, UConn got a career-high 20 points from Liam McNeeley and another 16 from Solo Ball in the one-point setback. Making his first start of the season Hassan Diarra chipped in 11 points with a game-high six assists. The Huskies led by as many as 11 early and were up eight at the half, but a hot shooting second half for the Buffs led to an eventual game-winning bucket in the final ten seconds of regulation.
Alex Karaban leads Connecticut across the board offensively this season, averaging 15.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on a 51.9-46.2-84.2 shooting line. McNeeley adds 14.0 points per game and Ball adds 13.3, as those three are the lone teammate trio in the country this season shooting at least 45 percent from 3-point range on at least four attempts per game.
Dayton boasts a balanced attack led by guards Enoch Cheeks (14.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and Malachi Smith (12.0 ppg, 5.6 apg) along with big man Zed Key (12.2 ppg, 68.6 FG%). The Huskies last faced the Flyers in the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, a 75-64 win for Connecticut. The two sides have actually squared off in Maui once before, during UConn's maiden visit in 2000.
Following Wednesday night's match-up the Huskies will return home to face UMES at the XL Center on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. on Peacock.
