Notes & Quotes: Arkansas-Pine Bluff pushed early, but UConn still won big

In a Saturday afternoon buy-game, the UConn Huskies battled for about 18 minutes, longer than a lot of other opponents — even the big names — have challenged them lately, before taking off and blowing out Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 101-63 at Gampel Pavilion.

To the surprise of nearly everyone in Storrs, the Golden Lions held the lead on multiple occasions in the first 10 minutes of the game thanks to some highly proficient three-point shooting.

Eventually, the tides turned. Tristen Newton scored six points during a 12-2 run at the end of the first half that helped the Huskies take a 45-33 lead into the break. They had runs of 10-0 run and 20-0 in the second half.

Head coach Dan Hurley said he was happy with the last 22 minutes.

“Our defense was not the issue,” he explained. “It took us a while to really get it going offensively.”

Alex Karaban scored a career-high 26 while Cam Spencer added 15 as the two each went 4-of-4 from three in the second half to put the game out of reach. Newton turned in another complete performance, scoring 16 while dishing out six assists and grabbing four rebounds.

Donovan Clingan scored nine of his 11 points in the first half, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots. Samson Johnson played 16 minutes, scoring four points while grabbing one rebound.

Hurley mentioned he was disappointed with the rebounding effort of those two, he’s also noted that both are dealing with injuries after Johnson had a minor issue in the UNC game.

Despite being outrebounded in the first half, UConn dominated the glass in the second half to finish with a 42-28 overall advantage.

Stephon Castle played 18 minutes in his second game back from a knee injury, scoring seven points with four assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

Here’s a closer look at the game and what the players and coaches had to say about it:

What Went Well

Kareer High: In addition to going 4-of-4 from deep in the second half, Karaban was the Huskies’ leading scorer at halftime, staying involved throughout the game. He made sure the Huskies won this one, continuing to demonstrate his willingness to lead this team. Crediting his work ethic, Hurley called him a “cyborg” with “no off switch” and noted that Karaban has had two straight strong performances.

Hurley: I was impressed probably more against North Carolina because he didn't make shots and he still played a great game. But that six of nine I think was something he needed, just for the confidence piece. Because players look at their numbers to see what they're shooting from three…that can mess with a player’s head.

Stewart Returns: Stewart didn’t play at all in the Kansas or UNC game and had zero points in three of his last four appearances going into Saturday. Against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, he was assertive as he scored seven points with two rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes of action.

Hurley: It was good to see him give us a lift there…that earns him trust in the staff [and] his teammates, and now it gets him into a position where you know, he can get into the rotation…gives us more confidence that we've got somebody that we could go to get Alex off the court.

Karaban: Super happy for him, he played one hell of a game. He does it all the time in practice.

Castle Time: The highly-touted freshman appears to be rounding into shape for the Huskies. He’s come off the bench in two straight games, playing 18 minutes on Saturday after logging 10 on Tuesday against UNC. He’s shown elite defense and offensive playmaking ability that will be sure to take UConn to another level once he’s at 100 percent and back in the starting lineup.

What Needs Work

Slow Start: It was a tense beginning for the Huskies and their fans, as the visitors were keeping it close for most of the first half. Considering that they were one of the lowest-rated D1 teams, this was incredibly surprising.

Hurley: We missed layups, we missed open threes, Cam didn’t have it going yet, he was pretty passive…Our defense was not the issue, it just took us a while to start getting going offensively. … We didn’t play well offensively in the first half.

Rebounding: The Huskies were in danger of being outrebounded for the first time all year, trailing the battle on the glass by three at halftime. They got it to a +14 margin in their favor by the end of the game, but Hurley was not pleased with their early rebounding effort.

Hurley: Yeah that was total bullsh*t. Our centers got beat…that was disappointing… Rebounding is position, it’s tracking, it’s tracing, it’s life-or-death pursuit of the ball, possession of the ball is the most important thing. They were faster to the ball, some of them were long threes…[but] Samson, Donovan, you got to rebound better there. And they know that, I got on them today.

Perimeter Defense: Some of the Golden Lions’ success can be attributed to deep threes or reasonably contested ones early on, but they also got a lot of good looks. Tristen Newton said it was a “6 out of 10” performance from them on that front.

Win Probability

Despite the early issues, the win probability stayed a flat horizontal line throughout the game. The Huskies are ranked fourth in KenPom, behind Purdue, Arizona, and Houston.

Up Next

The Huskies have a break before they travel to Seattle to take on Gonzaga next Friday, Dec. 15. Tip-off will be at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2) from Climate Pledge Arena.