No. 5 UConn men’s basketball survived a late scare from the No. 15 Texas Longhorns to take home the Empire Classic title on Monday night. Alex Karaban scored six of his team-high 20 points in the final 4:23 to help the Huskies earn a 81-71 victory at Madison Square Garden. UConn has now won 22 straight games in non-conference play by 10 points or more.
The Huskies picked up right where it left off after Sunday’s 20-point win over Indiana, jumping out to a nine-point lead within the first five minutes. UConn would grow the lead to 13 at the under-12 timeout after a Hassan Diarra block of Max Abmas led to a deep transition 3-pointer from Karaban to make it 24-11.