The UConn men’s basketball team has regressed this season after winning back-to-back national championships, and the struggles of Alex Karaban this season have been magnified. The Huskies suffered an 89-75 loss to No. 10 St. John’s on Sunday, and head coach Dan Hurley spoke on Karaban’s struggles this season, referencing the pressure he has on him to perform.
“He’s going through it,” Dan Hurley said, via Sam Calhoun of the Daily Campus. “This is what he came back to school for—to be the fact of something and having to handle that type of responsibility and pressure.”
Karaban considered going to the NBA Draft a year ago after UConn basketball’s second consecutive title. Instead, he decided to return for a third season in Storrs, hoping to be a leading figure in a third consecutive championship team. Even considering how hard it is to win three championships in a row, UConn has disappointed in comparison to expectations this season.
That is the case with Karaban as well, who is not shooting at the level that was expected. Coming into Sunday’s game, Karaban was shooting 43.1% from the field and 33.3% from three, according to Sports Reference. For reference, Karaban shot 47.6% and 49.5% from the field in his first two years, while shooting 40.2% and 37.9% from three in those seasons as well. Obviously, this type of efficiency was not expected from Karaban this season. He was expected to take a main role in the offense alongside players like Liam McNeeley and Solo Ball.
As a result of the loss, UConn dropped to 18-9 overall and 10-6 overall in Big East play. The odds are that the Huskies will still get into the tournament with their resume this season, and they could still end up with a good seed in the Big East tournament as well. However, the expectation of a three-peat is likely not there anymore given how the team has played this season.
UConn will finish the Big East regular season with four games against Georgetown, Providence, Marquette and Seton Hall.
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