Shaka Smart, Marquette stuns Dan Hurley, UConn in regular-season finale
Marquette upsets UConn 66-62 in the regular season finale. Marquette’s Nigel James Jr. led the way for the Golden Eagles with 19 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds on 7-19 shooting from the field. UConn’s defense made it tough on James, with the freshman guard going 1-7 from behind the arc and losing six turnovers.
Senior guard Chase Ross added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on 4-7 shooting, making 2 threes and 4 free throws. Despite the win, not much has gone right this season for the 12-19 Golden Eagles.
With their record in mind, Marquette hopes Saturday’s win can give them momentum entering Wednesday’s Big East tournament. Marquette must win the tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Luckily for them, head coach Shaka Smart knows all about his team’s getting hot in March, with him taking VCU to the Final Four as an 11th seed in 2011. Marquette has made four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances under Smart before this season.
UConn suffered its fourth loss of the season on Saturday. The Huskies struggled offensively, shooting 36% from the field and going 3-24 from three-point range, for 13%.
Despite being recently named the only player to be inducted into the Huskies of Honor in the midst of his UConn career, Alex Karaban had the worst game of his career. He finished with 2 points on 0-6 shooting, with both of his points coming from behind the line in 40 minutes.
Silas Demary Jr. led the way for UConn with 17 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. Huskies center Tarris Reed Jr. finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 7-10 shooting.
UConn’s loss puts them behind St. John’s in the standings, heading into the Big East tournament.
