UConn Basketball Upset By Colorado: 3 Takeaways

UConn basketball suffered a second straight loss, 73-72, to Colorado.

After a disappointing result against Memphis in the opening round of the Maui, UConn basketball looked much sharper against Colorado in the first half. They came out swinging and looked much more comfortable on offense. The ball didn’t stick as much as Hassan Diarra found his way into the starting lineup over Aidan Mahaney for the first time this season.

UConn shot an impressive 8-16 from deep and shot 56% from the floor in the first half while holding Colorado to just 38%. Fouls continued to be a problem as they committed a whooping 14 fouls compared to only 7 by the Buffaloes. However, we’ll save that discussion for social media.

The second half was a different story as Colorado shot 62.5% from the field, going on several scoring runs as UConn’s offense began to sputter. Liam McNeeley who was UConn’s best offensive option in the first half, hurt his hip and missed some time, although he did return with limited minutes.

Colorado took the lead on a layup by Andrej Jakimovska with 8 seconds remaining, shortly after a controversial no-call for an over the back on a rebound Colorado secured that had UConn fans asking “Where was that yesterday?” Hassan Diarra’s last-second heave from three was no good and UConn fell for the second time in two days.

Here are three takeaways before the final day of the Maui Invitational.

Not what we’re looking for.@keybank pic.twitter.com/LUvt5a9JyI

— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 26, 2024

Takeaway #1: What a win for the Colorado Buffaloes

It’s important to give credit when credit is due. Not many people gave Colorado a chance going into the matchup against the 2-time defending champs. Colorado was a 14-point underdog and did not play anywhere close to that. They only led for 58 seconds the entire game but were able to make all the critical plays down the stretch to end up victorious.

They were extremely physical and were able to punch back at a hungry husky team even after falling down double figures. Getting to the free throw line and putting several UConn players into foul trouble was their secret sauce. And shooting 56.3% from the three-point line didn’t hurt either.

This is a huge victory for a Colorado team that lost their three best players to the NBA last season and was picked to finish 15^th in the Big 12. It will be interesting to see if this win can catapult Colorado toward another NCAA Tournament appearance or if this win will be an aberration.

Colorado had come into the game shooting 47.5% from the field and only 36.8% from three so it will be interesting to see if Colorado can keep up this hot shooting. If they can, the Buffaloes will be right in the thick of things come March.

Takeaway #2: Trouble in paradise?

There’s not much new to say that hasn’t been said about this UConn basketball team at this point. Foul trouble continues to plague the team as well as poor defense by the perimeter players.

Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed were both in foul trouble in the first half and both ended up fouling out for the second straight game. This has to improve if UConn basketball is going to compete against power conference teams. The best ability is availability and as talented as both players are, they have to be on the floor to make an impact.

The offense continues to be a work in progress with a continued lack of good decision-making and costly turnovers. The team is still extremely talented and hopefully will be able to gel as the season progresses but this is far from the level of basketball Dan Hurley’s team has displayed the past two seasons.

Aidan Mahaney, who continues to struggle to adjust to the new quicker style of play, came off the bench and saw a season-low 7 minutes. He is such a great player but is currently struggling to find his shot and needs to build his confidence back up. Hassan Diarra played well as a starter, but had some poor decision-making at the end of the game and shot an off-balanced three as the horn expired.

This wasn’t an ideal shot coming off a timeout and with UConn only being down 1 point. Hindsight is 20-20, but driving to the hoop and either going for a layup or kicking the ball out to Karaban or McNeeley may have been a better option to end the game.

Takeaway #3: Liam McNeeley breaks out

Liam McNeeley was one of the few bright spots for a UConn basketball team that will have it’s work cut out for itself during the rest of the non-conference schedule. The freshman standout shook off his shaky shooting against Memphis to go 4-4 from three to start the first half.

The freshman not only lead the Huskies with 20 points but he has been establishing himself over the past few games as one of the vocal leaders. UConn basketball is looking for a quote-unquote “alpha” and it’s looking like Liam McNeeley is more than capable of stepping into the role that Cam Spencer and Andre Jackson filled so well in the past.

Next up for UConn (4-2): vs. Dayton (5-2) – Nov. 27 at 11:59 p.m. EST

Next up for Colorado (5-1): vs. #5 Iowa State (4-1) – Nov. 27 at 2:30 p.m. EST