UConn men’s basketball takes down DePaul, 90-76
Feb 1, 2023 - 4:21 AMUConn men’s basketball ended a rough month of January on a high note Tuesday night, taking down the DePaul Blue Demons 90-76 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The No. 24 ranked Huskies (16-6, 6-6 Big East) are back at .500 in conference and finished the first month of 2023 with a 3-5 record.
Despite a six-day break since their close home loss to Xavier, it was more of the same for UConn, who put together and strong first half but struggled mightily for chunks of the second. After leading by as much as 20 points in the final 20 minutes, DePaul managed to cut the lead to as little as six with 10 minutes to play before a four-point play from Tristen Newton gave the Huskies some breathing room.
The Huskies looked rusty to start, as the Blue Demons’ Javan Johnson torched the defense for 10 points in the first six minutes before fizzling out. But UConn took the lead for good on a jumper from Newton after Johnson’s last make of the half and never looked back. The Huskies leaned on stars Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins to get the offense going, with Sanogo scoring 12 first half points in just nine minutes of play due to foul trouble. Hawkins carried the load with Sanogo on the bench, scoring 15 of his game-high 26 in the first half and helping UConn take a 46-33 lead into halftime.
The Huskies kept the pressure on to start the second half by being aggressive and getting to the foul line, scoring six of their first 13 points from the charity stripe. UConn would stretch the lead to 20 after yet another easy bucket from Sanogo, who DePaul left seemingly wide open for extended portions of the night. Despite the deficit, DePaul kept fighting, and clawed back to within nine with a 10-0 run with 12 minutes to play.
From there, Newton stopped the bleeding.
The ECU transfer hit a jumper to stop the run and give UConn an 11-point cushion, but the Blue Demons got even closer with five-straight points to pull within six. From there, Newton’s four-point play put the lead back at double-digits and while DePaul stuck around for a little, essentially put the Blue Demons on ice for good.
Newton finished the night with 21 points on 50 percent shooting from the field for his second-straight game with 20 or more points. The trio of Newton (21 points), Hawkins (26) and Sanogo (25) combined to nearly outscore DePaul on their own and scored all of the Huskies’ buckets in the final 17 minutes of play. No other UConn players eclipsed double figures.
While the defense still looked lost at times and was once again plagued by some foul trouble, the Huskies still forced 11 turnovers and blocked six shots, including an emphatic block by Hawkins in the second half. UConn also still dealt with foul trouble throughout the game, with Sanogo and Karaban in particular missing major stretches due foul issues.
Offensively, the trio of Newton, Hawkins and Sanogo did all of the heavy lifting, but Nahiem Alleyne chipped in five points, his first game with more than one field goal in 2023. UConn also maintained aggressiveness on the offensive end and were rewarded for it, setting season highs in free throw attempts (34) and makes (30), with Hawkins and Newton combining to shoot 20-22 from the line.
Up next, UConn will remain on the road and head to Washington D.C. to take on Patrick Ewing and Georgetown Saturday at noon, where the Huskies will look to win back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season 14-0. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
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