LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 27: Alex Karaban #11 of the Connecticut Huskies drives to the basket against Enoch Cheeks #6 of the Dayton Flyers in the second half during a Maui Invitational college basketball game at The Lahaina Civic Center on November 27, 2024 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
UConn forward Alex Karaban was taken to a hospital with a head injury after the No. 2 Huskies' 85-67 loss to Dayton in the seventh-place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday night.
Karaban’s head hit the floor after he was fouled with about 2 1/2 minutes left. He stayed in the game but was later placed in the concussion protocol and sent to the hospital for further testing.
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WATCH HEREKaraban got clearance to fly home with the rest of the team shortly before takeoff, a team spokesman said Thursday.
Karaban had made four of his team’s eight 3-pointers and scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the first half to lead the Huskies (4-3), who lost all three games they played in the tournament.
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SIGN UP The Flyers (6-2) got 20 points from Enoch Cheeks, 18 from Nate Santos, 16 from Posh Alexander and 15 from Zed Key, who led the team with nine rebounds. Cheeks shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
A day after he scored a career-best 20 points against Colorado, UConn's Liam McNeeley went scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting against the Flyers.
Karaban hit a 3-pointer that put UConn ahead 30-27 with 4:34 left before halftime, but Dayton closed out the first half on a 15-4 run to take a 41-34 halftime lead.
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Takeaways
UConn: All three of the Huskies’ losses on Maui came against unranked teams. They dropped their first two games — against Memphis on Monday and Colorado on Tuesday — by a combined three points.
Dayton: The Flyers made 27 of 30 free throws and shot better than 47% from behind the arc (8 of 17). They went 25 of 50 from the field overall.
Key moment
UConn got within 52-49 on Solo Ball's bucket in transition at the 11:20 mark of the second half, but Dayton found some separation with Alexander’s 3-point play that stretched it back to a six-point lead with 10:34 to play.
Key stat
Dayton finished plus-16 in rebounding margin, including a 32-17 advantage on the defensive glass.
Up next
UConn hosts Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, while Dayton plays host to Western Michigan on Tuesday night.
