LAWRENCE, Kansas –- For just over four minutes on Friday night, it looked as if the UConn men might pull off an improbable 12-point comeback win over Kansas in its sold-out Phog Allen Fieldhouse, an atmosphere that will stand as one of the best and most hostile the Huskies will face this year.
After UConn gained its first lead around the 10-minute mark and extended it to as many as five with nine minutes to go, fifth-ranked Kansas responded with a 3-point barrage and finished the game on a 22-13 run. The 69-65 loss was UConn’s first against a nonconference opponent in 624 days, since losing to New Mexico State in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and ended its record streak of 24 consecutive double-digit wins in non-league contests.
“Just like Kansas, at UConn we don’t do moral victories or silver linings,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “I wish we would’ve played better but I do believe that last year’s team on Dec. 1 was better than this year’s team on Dec. 1, but I do think that this year’s team has a chance to be as good as last year’s team when we’re fully healthy and playing in March.”
In the battle between college basketball’s last two champions, UConn played without touted freshman guard Stephon Castle while Cam Spencer, the Huskies’ leading scorer entering the game, hurt both of his feet but played a gutsy 36 minutes through visible pain. When they needed him most, Tristen Newton, keen for the big moments, carried the offense with 31 points – the most he’s ever scored in a UConn uniform.
Here are some takeaways from a top-five matchup that certainly lived up to the hype:
Newton puts team on his back: While the rest of UConn’s starters looked rattled by the crowd to start the game and Kansas erased all of its prior offensive struggles to make 10 of its first 13 shots from the field, Newton kept the Huskies afloat. He had 16 points at halftime, more than half of the team’s total (31), and cut the Huskies’ deficit down to seven with a personal 5-0 run heading into the break. He later gave UConn its first lead of the game and extended it with his fifth and sixth made 3-pointers of the night. One of just two Huskies in double-digit scoring, Newton was 10 of 18 from the field and 6 of 9 from deep. He also had six rebounds.
“Newton was unbelievable,” Kansas’ Hall of Fame head coach Bill Self said. “He was the best player in the game.”
Kansas ‘Big Three’ does no wrong: The Jayhawks entered Friday’s game ranked 251st nationally in made 3-pointers per game with 6.6. They made UConn pay for its decision to go under on ball screens at the start, passing the ball around undeterred and capitalizing on 9 of 14 from deep in addition to a number of mid-range jumpers. Trailing for the first time all game with seven minutes left, Kansas’ three best players Kevin McCullar Jr, (21 points), Hunter Dickinson (15 points, nine rebounds, four blocks) and K.J. Adams (18 points, two blocks) used a barrage of 3-pointers and some clutch free throws to put the game away.
Overall shooting struggle continues, took awhile to adjust to KU defense: Following a rough, 4-for-28 3-point shooting performance against Manhattan, UConn’s shooting did not see a ton of improvement on Friday. Outside of Newton, who followed an 0 for 5 night with 6 of 9 in Kansas, the team was 5 of 19 from deep for the game and just 2 of 10 in the second half. At the free throw line, granted the Kansas atmosphere provided quite the challenge, UConn was just 8 of 15.
“For all the stuff that we do movement-wise off the ball, (KU switching on screens is) something that takes away from a lot of that movement. It took us awhile,” Hurley said. “I thought the second half we started to see like the slips on the switches and the openings and offensively I thought we had a much better feel for that. But it’s tough with Adams because he’s a big strong guy but he flies around like a guard.”
Lots to learn from Clingan’s matchup with Dickinson: Dickinson, plus all of the switching and the on-ball defense, made it difficult for UConn to get the ball inside as much as Hurley would’ve liked. Clingan got his touches, though often forced into a difficult shot with a fellow 7-footer defending and Adams often flying in to help. He finished with eight points on 3 of 8 shooting. His impact was there defensively with three blocked shots and a number of shots altered.
“I was really nervous about the matchup because Hunter is such a technician there in terms of like a back to the basket player,” Hurley said. “I think (Clingan) probably learned a lot tonight from that matchup in terms of how Hunter posted up. We’ve got to get Donovan the ball more but I think this was a really, really good learning experience, especially going into a matchup with (North Carolina’s Armando) Bacot on Tuesday.”
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