STORRS – The UConn men's basketball team (22-9, 14-6 BIG EAST) closed the regular season emphatically, drilling Seton Hall (7-24, 2-18) by a score of 81-50 on Saturday afternoon at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion. The match-up was the regular season finale for both squads. Prior to the contest UConn honored its graduating class of Hassan Diarra, Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban for Senior Day.

The senior trio set the tone early and the Huskies came out with ferocity, opening a 22-point halftime lead and going up as many as 43 in the second half. Johnson scored the first basket of each half and finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks in only 18 minutes while playing in front of his parents live for the first time. Karaban notched his second double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Diarra led the Huskies with six assists and four steals.

In support of the seniors, Solo Ball led all scorers with 17 and both Aidan Mahaney and Jaylin Stewart scored 10 off the bench. The Huskies shot over 50 percent from the floor and held the Pirates under 40 percent, a combination only achieved one other time for UConn in the BIG EAST season (Feb. 1 at Marquette). UConn took the lead on its first possession and carried it the rest of the way.

How it Happened

The seniors shined from the start, with Diarra finding Johnson for the game's first bucket then swiping a steal-and-score of his own. Karaban got in on the action with a put-back at 18:15, and the Pirates called for time after UConn's game-opening 6-0 spurt.

Johnson kept the train rolling after the stoppage, recording back-to-back dunks and two blocks on the same trip before a Ball 3-pointer made it 13-3 Connecticut. The slams kicked off a prolonged 12-0 run that saw the Huskies swell their lead to 18-3 at 12:42 of the first.

A 6-0 mini-run over three minutes of game time got The Hall back within 11 before another Karaban triple made it 28-14 at 7:02 of the opening stanza. Late in the first a Ball 3-pointer highlighted a 7-1 mini-run to close the period and give the Huskies their largest lead of the day, going to the halftime break up 43-22.

A slam from Johnson opened the second half to push the lead over 20, and another Johnson throwdown via an off-the-backboard Diarra feed gave the Huskies their largest lead of the day at 53-26 before a timeout at 15:52. From there the rout was on. After starting the first half up 18-3, the Huskies out-scored the Pirates 18-4 over the first six-plus minutes of the second to go up as many as 35.

Midway through the second back-to-back 3-pointers from Mahaney swelled the edge over 40, and UConn made it 75-32 with a Stewart slam at 9:26. From there all that was left to decide was the final margin as the UConn reserves finished out the 31-point win. Diarra, Karaban then Johnson were subbed out late to thunderous ovations in what could be their final Gampel game.

Inside The Numbers

• On the day the Huskies shot 28-of-54 (51.9 percent) from the field and 8-of-25 (32.0) from 3-point range while holding the Pirates 18-of-51 (35.3) and 4-of-16 (25.0)
• UConn dished out 21 assists on 28 field goals
  • Diarra led the way with six assists, Karaban added four and seven different Huskies recorded at least two helpers
  • The Huskies entered the day first in the BIG EAST and fifth nationally with 17.8 assists per game
  • Connecticut hit the 20-assist mark for the 10^th time this season, fifth time in BIG EAST play and first time since Jan. 21
• The Huskies finished 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) from the free throw line and finished BIG EAST play with an 80.4 percent mark from the charity stripe in league games
• Connecticut was +22 on the glass, out-rebounding The Hall by a 42-20 margin
  • UConn finishes conference play leading the league with a +5.5 rebounding margin in league games
  • Karaban grabbed 10 rebounds and Tarris Reed Jr. snared seven as a reserve
  • Since the start of February, UConn has out-rebounded 10-straight opponents and is +111 on the glass, good for a +11.1 rebound margin
  • The Huskies turned 14 offensive rebounds into a 16-3 edge in second chance points
• UConn finished with a 40-28 advantage in the paint and a 30-8 margin in bench scoring

News and Notes

• UConn is now 50-24 all-time against Seton Hall
  • The Pirates and Huskies have split their regular season series in each of the last five campaigns
  • Seton Hall becomes the sixth program against whom the Huskies have compiled 50 or more wins and the first outside New England, joining; UMass, Rhode Island, Providence, Boston College and New Hampshire
• The Huskies completed a full-season sellout, playing to capacity crowds of 15,684 in eight XL Center games and 10,299 in all eight Gampel affairs
• With 14 points today, Karaban now has 1,302 career points – he broke a tie with Bob Staak (1,288) and moved past Rodney Purvis (1,301) into 30^th on the UConn all-time scoring ledger
• The double-double for Karaban was his second this season and first since Dec. 8
• Johnson finished 6-of-7 from the floor, raising his field goal percentage this season to 76.0 percent – a mark that would top the single-season record of 72.5 set last year by Johnson

Up Next

The Huskies will next take the court at the BIG EAST Tournament, opening their run in Manhattan on Quarterfinal Thursday. Connecticut will take on either No. 6 Villanova or No. 11 Seton Hall some time after 9:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden on FS1.