Washington, D.C. — Alex Karaban scored 25 points to lead the way for UConn (22-2, 12-1) as the nation’s top-ranked team thrashed Georgetown (8-15, 1-11) 89-64 at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Projected NBA Draft lottery pick Stephon Castle contributed 17 points, but it was the redshirt sophomore Karaban who set the tone early for the Huskies with 17 in the first-half alone on 7-10 shooting, as the visitors led 52-28 at the intermission. Karaban was subbed out for good with 4:57 to play and the game already in hand, ending his afternoon one point shy of his career-high of 26. Karaban tallied 51 points across UConn’s two games against the Hoyas this season.
The win was the 12th straight victory for UConn, who have been stellar in their defense of last year’s NCAA Tournament Championship. The hardest portion of the Huskies’ conference slate is yet to come, as they still have two upcoming dates against Marquette, currently ranked 7th in the country. UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley said during a postgame press conference, “Offensively, defensively, we just made it really hard on [Georgetown].”
Hurley credited his team with not overlooking a Georgetown team that sits 10th in the 11-team Big East. “We were really professional to start the game,” Hurley said. “These are the games that scare you the most because you’re afraid that your players will look at their record and take them lightly,” Hurley added.
Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley had a much different view of the game, and said, “There’s not one damn thing we’ll take from this that I feel good about, not one thing.”
Georgetown never led, and the game was last tied at 2-2 early in the first half. The Huskies led for all but 37 seconds of the contest.
Cooley went on to say “Energy, effort, and attitude, that’s what it starts with, and we were F- on every part of today’s game.”
The lone bright spot for Georgetown was Dontrez Styles, as the junior led the Hoyas with 23 points. Styles was the only consistent source of offense for Georgetown in the first half, with 17 of the hosts’ 28 points. The Kingston, N.C. native had a tougher second half and battled foul trouble after picking up three fouls before halftime.
Sophomore guard Jayden Epps struggled for Georgetown. Despite entering Saturday’s game as the Big East’s 3rd-leading scorer, Epps was held to just four points on 2-8 shooting. When asked about Epp’s difficult afternoon, Cooley replied “I don’t have that answer… the point guard, the head coach, and the best player can never have a bad day. And all three of us today were godawful.”
Before practice Thursday, Cooley told reporters, “We gotta do a better job playing at home, it’s really that simple.” Despite the focus on home performances, this setback marks Hoya’s 8th straight loss overall and moves Georgetown to just 7-8 on the year at home.
Hurley also noted Georgetown’s struggles at Capital One Arena, and said, “the one thing that did give us comfort is Georgetown’s played better on the road than they have at home.”
After Karaban received a standing ovation from the many UConn fans in attendance, the rest of the starting group received the same treatment soon after, with Hurley putting his second unit on the floor with three minutes left in the contest. By that point, Huskies fans made up the lion’s share of the crowd, as the game had not been within single digits since the 12:11 mark of the first half.
Next up for Georgetown is a road test in Omaha against 19th-ranked Creighton, while UConn will look to avoid another potential trap game away from home against last-placed DePaul.
