Alex Karaban is the only returning star for the Huskies, from the championship-winning squad of 2023-24. Hailed as the connective tissue of Dan Hurley’s team’s offense, his return was met with fanfare, as Fox Sports’ John Fanta rightly put it: The three-peat watch is officially on in Storrs because Alex Karaban announced he is withdrawing from the NBA Draft and will return to UConn for his junior season. Even Dan Hurley himself has admitted that the team never got any good at offense as they did when Karaban arrived. “When you have a 4-man that can process the game the way he does… he’s a special player,” he said proudly.

But against Oklahoma, that “special player” seemed absent for much of the game. His 7 points paled in comparison to teammates like Solo Ball (14 points) and Tarris Reed Jr. (12 points off the bench), and his missed three-pointers became a focal point of discussion. As was expected, social media erupted, with fans and analysts questioning his leadership.

When the final buzzer sounded with a narrow 67-59 victory for the Huskies, Karaban’s stat line—7 points on 3-for-8 shooting, including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc—was so glaring that it painted him as the weak link in a team expected to dominate. “They’re super well coached and it’s gonna be a battle for sure,” Karaban had said before the game. And hence, the question- Having played 109 seasons through 3 seasons and having a good sense of intuition, how could the most senior player on the squad deliver so poorly?

UConn’s men’s basketball team entered the tournament for the fifth straight season as the 8th seed. They faced the 9-seed Oklahoma (20-13) first. The Huskies ended the first half with a six-point advantage 32-26. But the second half was a much closer affair as the teams traded the lead and were often tied on the scoreboard. With 5:43 left on the clock, both teams had 54 on the board and there were serious doubts if Dan Hurley and co would make it to the next round.

Before this clash, The UConn Huskies held a dismal 1-3 all-time record against the Oklahoma Sooners. That lone victory? A distant memory—a decisive 86-59 thrashing back in January 2004 in Storrs, long before this current squad was even in the picture. While the team might have redeemed themselves now, with Solo Balls’ consistency and well, Karaban’s late charge (we will get to that later), the fans were far from dazzled, and the social media grumbling told the story of a team that can topple anytime, with their leader in its center.

Dan Hurley and co. are under fire after a close win to start the March Madness journey

One netizen quickly pointed out and asked the question. “Is it just me or has Alex Karaban regressed a lot?” Which, by the way, reminds us of January. After missing two clutch free throws in a 68-66 loss to Villanova—snapping an eight-game UConn winning streak—Karaban called it “probably the lowest of lows that I have had in my UConn career.” He told The UConn Blog, “I practice free throws all the time. I work my ass off. For that to happen, it sucked”.

Yet, just three days later, he was back with a 19-point, 70% shooting performance against Georgetown, playing all 40 minutes and leading UConn to an eight-point win. Hurley stood by him then, saying, “We knew we’d get this type of response from him because he’s one of the best players in college basketball”. So, maybe, let’s wait for the next game.

“Alex Karaban might be the worst player in college basketball,” said another user. But wait, we haven’t finished the story we began. Karaban’s resilience was tested against Oklahoma and he did stumble. Sure. Take note of how he turned it around also, though. In the final stretch, with UConn clinging to a 57-56 lead, he made a critical three-pointer at the 3:40 mark, pushing the lead to four. He followed it with a floater at 2:18, extending it to 64-58. He knew he wasn’t supposed to repeat his lapses, as he said postgame, “I passed one up in the corner and I should have shot that one too, and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again“. So, isn’t it quite a stretch to call him the worst player?

Not quite, we guess, because despite that the narrative on X was unforgiving. “How do people think ALEX KARABAN is good ? Dudes so bad lol,” echoed another user. Well, the criticism isn’t exactly unfounded. Karaban is good, but he hasn’t shown much improvement in the last two years. That, according to some, is nitpicking though.

For Dan Hurley’s side, it wasn’t just Alex Karaban who was at the receiving end of social media comments. Even Liam McNeeley’s performance is not giving any confidence to the UConn fanbase. “Liam McNeely and Alex Karaban are the two most overrated players in college ball.” The Freshman forward did have one of his worst nights with 2-13 from his FG attempts. The poor performance was because of his 1-8 from the three-point line, as he ended the night with 8 points.

Now they will face Florida, which looks like a powerhouse. As per KenPom, the team is 2nd as the Gators boast a 128.6 offensive rating (1st) and a 92.4 defensive rating (10th). Previously, too many predicted for UConn to have a tough matchup against the Florida team. Will the struggle continue for Alex Karaban in the second round?