NEW YORK – After a 2-0 start to BIG EAST play, the UConn men's basketball duo of Alex Karaban and Liam McNeeley have swept the conference's weekly honors, as announced by the league on Monday (Dec. 23). McNeeley is Freshman of the Week for the fourth time and third-straight, while Karaban is Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
The laurel for Karaban comes after the redshirt-junior captained the Huskies to its second 2-0 start in three seasons by averaging 20.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in wins over Xavier and Butler. On Wednesday against Xavier, he scored seven of his 20 points in overtime including a 3-pointer to start the extra frame that gave UConn a lead it would not relent. He also snared five rebounds and blocked three shots against the Musketeers. He followed that with a game-high 21 points along with six rebounds on Saturday at Butler, hitting two 3-pointers in the final 2:30 to help the Huskies fend off a furious Bulldog rally and win at Hinkle for the fifth-straight time.
This season Karaban leads the Huskies with 16.5 points per game, adding 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. The All-America hopeful is shooting 47.6 percent from the floor, a career-best 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 83.8 percent from the charity stripe. The consummate winner, UConn is now 73-14 (.839) with Karaban in the starting lineup for his career. His first Player of the Week laurel comes after he had previously been honored by the conference with six Freshman of the Week nods and seven weekly Honor Roll selections.
McNeeley is the league's top freshman for the third-straight week and fourth time this season after posting 15.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds over Connecticut's 2-0 league start. Against Xavier on Wednesday he scored all 14 of his points after halftime, hit 4-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line and dished out four assists without a turnover. He followed that up with 17 points and a career-high seven assists at Butler on Saturday, adding five rebounds and going 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. This season the BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year is averaging 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, both second on the Huskies and amongst league freshmen.
The Huskies are off for the next week, returning to action to open 2025 on Jan. 1 at DePaul.
Players Mentioned
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- 6' 8"
- Redshirt Sophomore
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- 6' 7"
- Freshman
Players Mentioned
- 6' 8"
- Redshirt Sophomore
- F
- 6' 7"
- Freshman
- F
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