STORRS – The No. 14 UConn men's basketball (13-5, 5-2 BIG EAST) dropped a back-and-forth affair to Creighton (12-6, 5-2 BIG EAST) by a score of 68-63 on Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion. The loss snapped a 28-game home winning streak for the Huskies, second longest in program history, and was their first loss in Storrs in nearly two full years.

Hassan Diarra led Connecticut with 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the setback while the sophomore tandem of Solo Ball and Jaylin Stewart had 15 and 14 points, respectively. The contest featured five ties and nine lead changes and saw the Huskies rally from a nine-point second half deficit to take the lead midway through the frame. Creighton got a career-high 24 points from Jamiya Neal and a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double from Ryan Kalkbrenner.

UConn star Alex Karaban was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting but mustered three rebounds, three blocks and an assist. Samson Johnson finished with seven points and a career-high five assists, helping UConn rally with a team-best +12 in 24 minutes. Creighton's Steven Ashworth was also held below his season average but finished with 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 40 minutes.

How it Happened

The Huskies threw the first punch, getting the scoring started with a Diarra lay-in before back-to-back 3-pointers from Ball made it 10-2 at 16:46 of the first. The Bluejays responded later in the frame and an 8-0 run gave them a 17-14 lead before an Aidan Mahaney bucket and timeout on the floor at 11:09 of the opening stanza.

Diarra put the Huskies ahead with a basket inside after the stop as the sides went back-and-forth. The Bluejays took a 25-20 lead with a 3-pointer at 6:37 which prompted a UConn timeout. Back-to-back Stewart baskets kicked off a 6-0- spurt to put the Huskies back ahead before both sides went cold for a spell.

With 1:12 to play in the first, a long rebound and run-out led to a transition bucket from Diarra that cut Creighton's lead to 30-28 and prompted a CU timeout. The Bluejays answered and took a 35-28 lead to the half after being gifted three late free throws in the final seconds and having a buzzer-beating Diarra half-court heave waved off. Creighton got 17 first-half points from Jamiya Neal, who entered the day averaging 10.9/g.

Early in the second half a three-point play from Johnson and a Stewart 3-pointer cut the lead back to two, and Karaban then tied the proceedings with a runner before giving the Huskies their first lead of the half with a pair of free throws at 14:56.  

The Bluejays answered with seven-straight of their own to go back up five, making it 48-43  before a timeout with 11:48 to go. Neal pushed the run to 9-0 after the stop before Diarra ended the spurt with a 3-pointer. CU would push its lead to the largest of the day at nine before UConn began to mount its late push. A Karaban runner and corner 3-pointer from Stewart cut the deficit to 57-53 and led to a Creighton timeout at 5:49 of the half. Four-straight from Ball got it within one before the 3:27 media timeout, and a pair of free throws from Johnson after the break gave UConn its first lead in over 10 minutes at 59-58.

The Bluejays would pull back ahead and were up three before a Karaban floater made it 64-63 and UConn called for time with 22.7 to play. A pair of free throws gave the Huskies the ball back down three in the final 20 seconds. The Bluejays still had three fouls to give and played the clock game, and a rushed 3-pointer in the final seconds missed the mark as CU held on for the win.

Inside The Numbers

• The Huskies shot 44.8 percent (26-58) from the floor and 31.6 percent (6-19) from 3-point range, while Bluejays posted marks of 47.9 (23-48) and 34.8 (8-23)
• Creighton finished +3 on the glass, but UConn held a slim 12-11 edge in second chance points
• UConn turned a +2 turnover margin into a 15-10 advantage in points off miscues
• The Bluejays held a distinct advantage at the free throw line, going 14-of-15 from the stripe while the Huskies were 5-of-5
• UConn recorded 16 assists on 26 field goals
  • The five assists for Johnson mark a new career-high
  • Diarra posted seven assists without a turnover
• The Huskies finished with a 40-26 edge in points in the paint and a 11-2 advanatage in fast break points

News and Notes

• Connecticut falls to 2-8 all-time against Creighton and 2-3 vs. the Bluejays at home
• UConn's 28-game home winning streak spanned from Jan. 31, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2023
  • UConn had won 14-straight at Gampel dating back to a Jan. 25, 2023 setback on campus to Xavier
  • The winning streak was the second-longest in program history, trailing only a 31-game streak set from 2004-07
• Stewart scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and has posted three double-figure scoring games in his five spot starts
• Diarra notched the first "15-5-5" game of his career
• Dan Hurley is now 50-7 (.877) at Gampel as the UConn head coach and 86-16 (.843) in all home games as the Husky head man
• The Huskies were without star freshman Liam McNeeley (13.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg) for the fourth-straight contest, falling to 2-2 in those games

Up Next

The Huskies hit Hartford on Tuesday night when they play host to Butler for a 7 p.m. tip at the XL Center.