HARTFORD – The No. 19 UConn men's basketball team (14-5, 6-2 BIG EAST) won its 15^th-straight in Hartford with a wild 80-78 overtime victory over Butler (8-11, 1-7 BIG EAST) on Tuesday night at the XL Center. Solo Ball scored a career-high 23 points for the Huskies in the win, including a go-ahead 3-pointer late in overtime.

The Huskies led by eight at the half after going up as many as 15 in the opening stanza, but saw that lead dissipate as Butler charged late to force the extra period. The Bulldogs took an early three-point lead during overtime, but an 8-0 run including Ball's clutch triple but UConn ahead for good.

Ball also snared a career-best-tying six rebounds and hit five 3-pointers in a career-high 41 minutes. Alex Karaban had a huge day for Connecticut, going from a game-time decision with an ankle injury to playing 40 minutes and posting 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. The Huskies got huge production from the center spot with Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr. combining for 28 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks and three steals.

Butler held Hassan Diarra to only four points, but the UConn point guard did a little bit of everything with team-highs of nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals. The Bulldogs got a game-high 25 points from Jahmyl Telfort, 17 from Finley Bizjack and 13 points with nine rebounds from Andre Screen in the setback.

How it Happened

The Huskies opened the game on a 7-2 run, getting a pair of Johnson buckets and a Ball 3-pointer for the early edge. Later in the frame a 7-0 spurt, one that included a ferocious Reed Jr. put-back and Karaban blocking a 3-pointer that led to a run-out Ball lay-in, put the Huskies up 16-7 at 14:25 of the opening stanza.

UConn got eight-straight from Ball midway through the first and a 3-pointer at 7:46 pushed the lead to double-digits for the first time at 29-19. Minutes later, back-to-back steal and scores for the Huskies made it 35-22 and forced a Butler timeout with 5:09 to play in the first.

A prolonged 9-0 run for the Bulldogs cut what was a 15-point lead down to six and prompted a Connecticut timeout inside of the final minute of the first. Ball stopped the run with a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the half and UConn took a 39-31 lead to the break behind his 15 in the first half.

The sides traded blows for the early portion of the second half, before a pair of Johnson free throws pushed the lead back to double-figures at 54-44 with 12:46 left in regulation. Midway through the second the Bulldogs got back within two possessions, but a wild finish from Jayden Ross and another Ball trifecta pushed the lead back to 63-54 and sparked a Butler timeout at 6:57 with the XL Center rocking.

The Bulldogs would not go away, and a banked-in 3-pointer cut the lead to a point at 64-63 before a UConn timeout with 4:16 to play. A lay-up after the timeout pushed the run to 7-0 and gave BU its first lead of the contest, one that was short-lived after a Diarra jumper with 3:00 to play.

Inside of the final two minutes with UConn down a pair, Karaban dropped in a floater and Johnson notched a clutch block on the other end to give UConn possession with the score 68-68 and less than a minute to play.  A Diarra offensive rebound and foul drawn by Karaban extended the possession, but a go-ahead 3-point attempt was off the mark and the contest went to overtime.

Butler scored the first three points of the extra frame before Karaban got the Huskies back within one and then tied the game at 73-up with a three-point play at 2:25 of OT. Ball connected on his fifth triple of the day at 1:39 to break the deadlock and Johnson pushed the run to 8-0 after a vicious rebound and two free throws to make it 78-73 ahead of the final minute. A Reed Jr. bucket off a late scramble with 19.9 to play made it a four-point lead, and the Huskies were able to hold on from there and eke out the two-point win.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn shot 47.8 percent (32-67) from the floor and 35.0 percent (7-20) from 3-point range while holding Butler to 45.8 percent (27-59) and 26.3 percent (5-19) marks
• Both sides finished with 38 rebounds, each recording exactly 13 offensive and 25 defensive caroms
  • Diarra, Karaban and Reed Jr. tied for the team-high with seven bounds
  • The seven rebounds for Diarra mark his UConn-high and most in any game since matching that total on Nov. 14, 2021 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi
• The Huskies finished with a 50-40 edge in points in the paint and 13-5 advantage in transition scoring
• Connecticut recorded 20 assists on 32 field goals, led by seven from Diarra
• UConn finished with a 9-3 advantage in blocked shots
  • Johnson led the way with four swats, Karaban had three and Reed Jr. notched two
• Neither team shot it well from the free throw line but Butler had twice the attempts, shooting 67.9 percent (19-28) versus a 64.3 percent (9-14) effort for the Huskies

News and Notes

• The Huskies improve to 11-0 all-time against Butler
• The win was UConn's 15^th-straight at the XL Center
• Ball's 20-point effort was his third this season, second on the Huskies behind Karaban's five
• The overtime contest was UConn's third of the year (2-1) – the Huskies did not play an extra period over the last two seasons
• UConn played its seventh game of the season decided by five points or less, improving to 5-2 in those contests
• Karaban's '15-5-5' game was his second of the season

Up Next

The Huskies are on to Cincinnati to take on Xavier on Saturday night at the Cintas Center.