Alex Karaban took home his first-ever Big East Player of the Week honor for helping the Huskies to two wins this week.
After two conference wins this week, the UConn men’s basketball team retains its No. 11 spot in Monday’s AP Top 25 Poll.
It is a static yet productive week for the Huskies, who have seemingly hit their stride after jumping seven spots in each of the last two weeks.
UConn first hit the floor Wednesday in a 94-89 overtime win against Xavier on Big East opening night. Solo Ball kept the team afloat in regulation, while Alex Karaban shut the door in overtime, scoring seven of the team’s 16 points in the extra frame. Both players finished with over 20 points and a displayed a hefty effort on the defensive end — Ball with four steals and Karaban with three blocks.
Three days later, UConn kept up its winning ways, taking down Butler 78-74 in a game that was a little closer than it should have been. The Bulldogs rank No. 69 in KenPom’s advanced ranking system and No. 71 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, but their strong second half kept the game tight. Karaban again had over 20 points alongside five rebounds, aided by 17 points and seven assists from Liam McNeeley.
Karaban’s efforts Wednesday and Saturday paved the way for his first-ever Big East Player of the Week honors. The junior forward has been named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll 11 times in his college career, but now captures the player of the week award for the first time.
Rinse and repeat is the formula for McNeeley, who again earned the Big East Freshman of the Week honors. He has dominated the month of December, winning the award in three-straight weeks and for the fourth time this season.
In comparison to the KenPom and NET rankings, UConn’s AP rank can be seen as generous. The Huskies dropped to No. 15 in KenPom and No. 16 in the NET and were even leapfrogged by Rick Pitino and St. John’s this week. The Red Storm did not rank within the top 25 of the AP Poll or NET ratings, but sit nicely at KenPom No. 12. As for Marquette, the current Big East favorite, it moved up just one spot in the AP to No. 8 (KenPom No. 10, NET No. 9).
UConn remains on the cusp of being one of the top-10 teams in the nation, and a strong start to conference play has kept them in that conversation. The Huskies played two wire-to-wire games this week, and despite some persisting issues, showed that all wins count the same. They sit at 10-3 overall (2-0 Big East) heading into week nine of the season.
The Huskies won’t play again until 2025, when it travels to Chicago to take on DePaul on New Year’s Day. The Blue Demons are 8-4 on the year, but currently ride a 1-4 skid in their last five games, including two losses in their first two games of Big East Play. They fell to Providence on Dec. 10 in overtime and were no match for St. John’s on Dec. 17, losing by 27. Tipoff between the two is set for 2:00 p.m. ET at Wintrust Arena.