No. 2 UConn loses 3rd straight in Maui; Alex Karaban examined for head injury

Last updated: 2024/11/28 at 4:49 PM

BigP Published November 28, 2024

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Enoch Cheeks scored 20 points to lead Dayton to an 85-67 win over No. 2 UConn in the seventh-place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday night.

It was the third straight loss for the two-time defending national champions, who finished eighth in the eight-team event.

Furthermore, star Alex Karaban was taken to a nearby hospital after hitting his head on the floor late in the game, according to ESPN. He was later put under concussion protocol. UConn is optimistic about the status of Karaban, who made four of his team’s eight 3-pointers and scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the first half to lead the Huskies (4-3).

The Flyers (6-2) got 18 points from Nate Santos, 16 from Posh Alexander and 15 from Zed Key, who also led the team with nine rebounds.

Cheeks shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

A day after he scored a career-best 20 points against Colorado, Liam McNeeley went scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting against the Flyers.

Karaban hit a 3-pointer that put UConn ahead 30-27 with 4:34 left before halftime, but Dayton closed out the first half on a 15-4 run to take a 41-34 halftime lead.

Takeaways

UConn: All three of the Huskies’ losses in Maui came against unranked teams. They dropped their first two games — against Memphis on Monday and Colorado on Tuesday — by a combined three points.

Dayton: The Flyers made 27 of 30 free throws and shot better than 47% from behind the arc (8 of 17). They went 25 of 50 from the field overall.

Key moment

UConn got within 52-49 on Solo Ball’s bucket in transition at the 11:20 mark of the second half, but Dayton found some separation with Alexander’s three-point play that stretched it back to a six-point lead with 10:34 to play.