No. 1 UConn outlasts Providence to win its ninth straight game
Feb. 1—STORRS — Wednesday's Big East game turned into an ugly, chaotic mess.
It's as if the game was played in a sloppy mud pit; neither UConn nor Providence could gain much traction.
The top-ranked Huskies emerged with a hard-fought, foul-filled 74-65 victory before a rocking Gampel Pavilion crowd. They extended their season-best winning streak to nine straight and finished unbeaten in the month of January.
Overcoming bouts of adversity, they found a way to survive and win.
"That's the mark of who we are as a program now," UConn coach Dan Hurley said. "We can win the beauty contest when the game is up and down and high scoring. We can win in the mud, too. Today was one of those games where we had to win in the mud and just outlast them."
Stephon Castle, the heavy favorite to win Big East Freshman of the Year, put on his cape and helped first-place UConn (19-2, 9-1) pull out the victory. He scored a career-high 20 points, added five rebounds and played terrific defense on PC star Devin Carter, who scored 20 points but went only 6-for-18 from the field.
"A coming out party for Steph from an offensive standpoint and a defensive standpoint," Hurley said. "Steph saved us."
A ruggedly built 6-foot-6 guard, Castle is proving that he can hold his own in the rough Big East neighborhood
"All the games we played in the Big East so far, they've been pretty physical," Castle said. "We have pretty physical practices every day, so I'm building from that and just getting used it, it is slowing the game down a little bit for me."
Castle sparked the game's decisive 13-2 run early in the second half, scoring 11 points to propel UConn in front for good. He buried back-to-back 3-pointers — he was only 6 for 25 from beyond the arc entering the game — to light the spark.
His tough rebound basket pushed the lead to 44-36 with 13 minutes left.
"Without Steph, we wouldn't have won this game," said Tristen Newton, Castle's backcourt partner.
UConn and Providence continued to trade body blows the rest of the way. But the Huskies stayed in front despite watching their lead shrink to as little as four.
Fittingly enough, UConn closed out the win from the foul line, a popular spot due to frequent whistles. Officials called a combined 48 fouls, including four technical fouls.
The Huskies made 26 of 36 from the line while the Friars only hit 13 of 26. That proved to be the difference.
Cam Spencer drained four free throws in the final 35 seconds and finished with 15 points while Newton chipped in 16 points, 10 coming from the line, and 11 rebounds while Alex Karaban added 12 points despite injuring his ankle about midway through the first half.
Adversity hit UConn hard, early and often.
Sophomore Donovan Clingan battled foul trouble and played only 15 minutes, only four in the first half.
Karaban awkwardly fell to the floor after converting a layup about midway through the first half. He limped off the court and headed to the locker room with team trainer James Doran.
At the time, UConn looked out of sorts against a physical defense. The Huskies were getting beaten badly on the boards and to loose balls, struggled to convert from the perimeter and trailed by as many as eight.
"The first half they really got into us," Hurley said. "That was a complete joke by us and embarrassing and should never happen, ever."
The crowd roared its approval when Karaban returned to the bench and then the game four and a half minutes before the half. He drained a 3-pointer to help UConn rally to take a 29-28 halftime lead.
The game continued to have little flow in the second half. Clingan quickly picked up his third and fourth fouls. Hurley earned a technical foul after he complained to the officials.
Josh Oduro (20 points) and Carter kept the Friars within striking distance, but UConn refused to buckle. The Huskies won despite shooting 40% from the field and had a season-low seven assists. The Friars (14-7, 5-5) shot 41.4%.
"It was one of those Big East battles that we had to gut out," Spencer said. "Obviously, not our best performance. I don't think any of us are happy with the win. We're happy that we pulled it out, but we have a lot of work to do before Saturday."
UConn travels to play St. John's Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies will know more about Karaban's injury after he gets X-rays on Thursday. It was a good sign that he played 34 minutes overall and finished with 12 points.
"It was pretty swollen," Hurley said of Karaban's ankle. "But he's the toughest guy, man. A real gamer."
