Hurley ejected, UConn Men fall to Marquette in regular season finale

MILWAUKEE, WI (WFSB) - The #4 UConn Men’s Basketball team came into Saturday’s regular season finale against Marquette, with an opportunity to tie St. John’s for a share of the regular season Big East title. In order to do that, the Huskies had to pick up a road win against the Golden Eagles, which is historically a difficult thing to do. The Huskies clawed their way out of a nine-point hole with under five minutes to go, but they came up short in the closing seconds, falling to the Golden Eagles, 68-62.

The Huskies offense went ice cold in the middle of the second half, which opened the door for the Golden Eagles to take the lead and put UConn in a tough spot on the stretch. UConn struggled on offense big time in this game, shooting just 36-percent from the floor and  3-24 from beyond the three-point-line.

Even though they’ve definitely had better shooting performances, Silas Demary Jr., who had 17-points and eight assists on the day, had the chance to tie the game with a contested layup with under ten seconds on the clock. After Demary’s shot didn’t fall, UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley was ejected from the game, for arguing the non-foul call with the refs. The combination of that missed layup and the technical free throws following Hurley’s ejection, sealed the Huskies fate.

Despite being in foul trouble for most of the game, Tarris Reed Jr. had a double-double with 16-points and 10-rebounds. Alex Karaban failed to score a bucket for the Huskies. Karaban went 0-6 from the field and 0-5 from three-point-land, finishing with just two points.

UConn will have to put this loss in the rearview mirror fast, because their next game is on Thursday in the second round of the Big East Tournament. The Huskies are the two seed in their conference tournament, earning them a first round bye. That game on Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

Ahead of the game, they were deadlocked with No. 18 St. John’s for the top spot in the conference.

The Huskies are now 14-9 all time against the Golden Eagles, and had won the last six, according to UConnHuskies.com.

In the teams’ last matchup, UConn held Marquette to 32.3 percent shooting in a 73-57 victory.

The Huskies’ last game was a 71-67 win over Seton Hall at Gampel Pavilion.