UConn men fade in second half, lose at Creighton, 74-66
The UConn men’s basketball, playing short-handed and offensively challenged, didn’t have enough Saturday.
Creighton beat the Huskies for the second time, winning 74-66 in Omaha, Neb.
The Huskies erased a 10-point first-half deficit, and led briefly in the second half, but could not keep its offense in rhythm and, unlike the first meeting between these teams, Creighton’s high-powered offense clicked into gear.
Denzel Mahoney scored 20, Marcus Zegarowski 15 and Damian Jefferson 13 for the Blue Jays (11-4, 7-2 in the Big East), who made 15 of 26 shots from the floor in the second half.
For UConn (7-3, 4-3), freshman Adama Sanogo had 13 points and five rebounds before fouling out. R.J. Cole scored 14, but only four in the second half, Tyrese Martin 11 and Isaiah Whaley 10 points and nine rebounds, but it was tough sledding for the Huskies, who started out 5-for-26 from the floor and finished at 36.5 percent. UConn had a big edge in rebounds, but had trouble finishing around the basket, which has been a chronic problem without James Bouknight, out with an injury since Jan. 5.
The Huskies, with back-to-back losses, have home games coming up with Butler and Villanova this week, as a busy and critical stretch of Big East play continues.
UConn added Akok Akok (bruised shin) to their list of injuries before the game, so their bench was thin. But they dominated the boards, getting nine rebounds before Creighton got its first, and taking a 24-10 edge in rebounding, 11-1 on offense, in the first half.
The problem was, the Huskies weren’t cashing in on those rebounds, missing point-blank layups and put-backs. UConn started out 5-for-26 from the floor, as Creighton opened a 10-point lead. When Dan Hurley was called for a technical foul with 11:43 left in the half, it seemed to fire up the wrong team — the Bluejays went on a 9-2 run.
After Ryan Kalkenbrenner (10 points) jumper gave Creighton a 23-13 lead, the game began to turn as Cole stepped up to lead on offense, scoring eight points over the last 4:24 of the half, starting with a pull-up jumper. Cole penetrated and kicked out to Brendan Adams who hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to complete a 9-0 Huskies run, cutting Creighton’s lead down to one.
Cole finished the half with 10 points, including a turn-around jumper on UConn’s last possession, and the Huskies went to the break trailing 29-28.
UConn briefly took the lead early in the second half, but with both teams finding some rhythm on offense, the Huskies attacking earlier in the shot clock, the game began to flow, back and forth. Josh Carlton hit two from the line — UConn was 11-for-11 at that point — to tie the game at 46 with 11:11 remaining.
Then the Bluejays began to take control, as fouls piled up for UConn, both Carlton and Sanogo picking up their fourth with more than seven minutes to play. Mahoney continued to hurt UConn, making a steal off a soft pass and taking it to the rim to give Creighton a 59-50 lead with 6:57 left. Next time down the floor, Zegarowski, who’d been having another quiet day vs. UConn, hit a three to give Creighton it’s biggest lead.
The Huskies reversed momentum with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Adams and Whaley, getting it back down to six, but Creighton responded again, restoring the lead to double digits. The Huskies just couldn’t sustain offense.
Meanwhile, Butler learned the reported COVID-19 positive in its program was false, so its game at UConn Tuesday is still on as scheduled.
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
