University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
27-3,17-2Big East
Seton Hall
19-10,9-9Big East
Karaban Stars In Comeback Win, Joins HoH On Senior Day
2/28/2026 4:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STORRS – Alex Karaban made his final game at Gampel Pavilion a memorable one, as the UConn men's basketball (27-3, 17-2 BIG EAST) all-time wins leader scored a season-high 23 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Huskies to a 71-67 comeback win over Seton Hall (19-10, 9-9 BIG EAST) on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies trailed by eight midway through the second half but flipped the game with a 10-0 'kill shot' run and held on late with clutch stops and free throws.
As part of Senior Day festivities pregame, UConn inducted Alex Karaban into the Huskies of Honor. He becomes the first men's basketball player in Connecticut history to join the HoH while an active player. UConn also honored fellow seniors Dwayne Koroma, Alec Millender, Malachi Smith and Tarris Reed Jr. in the emotional pregame ceremony.
The Huskies trailed by one at the break to a hot-shooting Seton Hall squad that connected at a 50.0 percent clip from the field in the first half and hit 9-of-18 from three on the afternoon, a game after missing all 18 of its attempts. The Pirates took their largest lead of the day and went up 56-48 with 8:45 to play, setting the stage for UConn's 10-0 run that saw it take a 58-56 lead with 5:57 to play. After a Reed Jr. tip-in at 2:54 tied the game at 61-all, UConn went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe over the final 2:32 and came up with two key stops in the final minute to seal the comeback.
Solo Ball joined Karaban atop the scoresheet with 14 points, while Braylon Mullins scored 11 and Reed Jr. posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. In addition to his 23 points, Karaban added three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks while playing the full 40 minutes and concluded his career with a 60-6 record in home games. Silas Demary Jr. was quiet on the scoring front but dished out nine assists, grabbed four rebounds and has a pair of steals – including a huge swipe in the final minutes. For Seton Hall, A.J. Staton-McCray scored 20 points and was 4-of-4 from three, Budd Clark dished out eight assists and Najai Hines scored 11 with 11 rebounds.
How it Happened
The Huskies opened strong, using a 7-2 run to open the contest and build an early lead. The Pirates leveled the score with the next five points and later used a 7-0 run while taking advantage of a four-minute scoring drought for the Huskies to go up 14-11 at 9:48.
Jayden Ross stopped the run with a 3-pointer to level at the score at 14 and UConn re-took lead with a Karaban lay-in at 8:03. Karaban would go on to hit two more threes in the half, evening the score at 21-all with 6:32 to play and then giving the Huskies a one-point lead with a deep triple in the final minute of the frame. The captain scored 15 points in the first half, but a 50.0 percent start from the field had the Pirates up 33-32 at the break.
The Pirates opened the second half with a 7-2 to go up six, before back-to-back triples from Ball got UConn back within two at 42-40 with 15:50 to go. The Huskies briefly re-took the lead with Demary Jr. steal and dish to a Ross lay-in at 14:53 to go up one.
The Hall answered with prolonged 12-3 run, and back-to-back threes from Mike Williams III and Staton-McCray gave the Pirates the largest lead of the day for either side at 54-46 prompting UConn timeout with 9:25 to play. Still down eight with 8:13 to play, Malachi Smith hit a free throw that kicked off the game's decisive run. A Karaban three made it 56-52 and triggered SHU timeout at 7:24, then the captain cut it to one with another at 6:27. After a stop on the next trip, Mullins drilled a transition three from the corner and put UConn up 58-56 with 5:57 on the timer.
The sides traded baskets over the next three minutes, and down two Reed Jr. tied the game at 61-all with a put-back inside of three minutes. Demary Jr. came up with his clutch steal on the next trip and a pair of Mullins freebies put the Huskies back on top. The Pirates took a 65-64 lead with 1:22 to play on a pair from the stripe out of Staton-McCray, but Ball drew contact inside of a minute and hit two to retake the lead. After another stop the Huskies got two more at the line from Karaban to go up three, then another begat Ball knocking down another pair to go up 70-65 with less than 10 seconds to play. A 3-pointer from SHU cut it back to a one-possession game in the waning seconds before Ball put the game on ice with a free throw to push the game to its final margin of 71-67.
Inside The Numbers
- The Huskies shot 45.7 percent (21-46) from the field and 42.9 percent (9-21) from 3-point range, going 20-of-29 (69.0 percent) from the stripe
- Conversely, the Pirates shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field, hit on 50.0 percent (9-18) of their 3-point attempts and was 8-for-9 (88.9 percent) at the line
- After going 0-for-18 from three in its last game, Seton Hall started 8-12 from downtown and hit three of its first four attempts
- UConn finished with a 30-27 edge on the glass, including a 12-9 advantage in offensive rebounds
- The Huskies dished out 17 assists on 21 field goals, led by nine from Demary Jr.
- UConn recorded nine steals, its third most in a BIG EAST game this season
- Karaban scored his 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, a 5-of-6 mark from 3-point range and a 2-of-2 effort at the line
News and Notes
- UConn is now 52-24 all-time against Seton Hall and 8-5 since returning to the BIG EAST ahead of 2020-21 – the Huskies swept a two-game regular season series with the Pirates for the first time since 2008-09
- Karaban continued to climb the program's all-time record list
- Made his 140th career start to extend his program record
- His 141st game at UConn leaves him two shy of Shabazz Napier's program record of 143
- Finished the day with 1,752 career points, passing Christian Vital (1,735) to move into the top-10 in program history
- Next up on the all-time scoring list is Kemba Walker in ninth (1,783)
- Now has 271 made 3-pointers in his career, sitting five back of Rashad Anderson's program record of 276
- After playing the full 40 for the first time this season he has logged 4,542 career minutes, 72 shy of Napier's record 4,612
- Recorded his fifth 20-point game of the season and the 20th of his career
- UConn improves to 4-1 this year when trailing at the half
- Reed Jr. notched his second-straight double-double, his eighth of the year and the 18th of his career
- The Hall came away with 10 steals, tied for the most in a game against UConn this season and most since then-No. 7 BYU matched that mark on Nov. 15
Up Next
The Huskies are off until next weekend when they close the regular season on Saturday, March 7 at Marquette.
