No. 4 UConn comes back in 2nd half to beat Butler 88 81 behind Karaban and Newton

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Alex Karaban scored 20 points, Tristen Newton added 17 and No. 4 UConn came back to beat Butler 88 81 on Friday night for its third straight victory without injured center Donovan Clingan. The Huskies (13 2, 3 1 Big East) trailed 42 35 at halftime but shot 55% from the field overall in front of a sellout crowd on the road.

Freshman guard Stephon Castle finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Cam Spencer also scored 14, including a critical 3 pointer that made it 83 76 with 48.1 seconds left. DJ Davis had 22 points, Pierre Brooks II scored 19 and Jamyl Telfort added 16 for the Bulldogs (10 5, 1 3), who shot 47% and were outrebounded 33 24.

UConn improved to 8 0 in the all time series, which began with a meeting in the 2011 NCAA championship game. Connecticut roared back in the second half with a 15 4 run, capped by a 3 from Karaban, to go ahead 54 50 with 12:07 remaining. Hassan Diarra’s fast break layup made it 73 65 with 5:21 left, UConn’s largest lead of the game.

BIG PICTURE UConn: The defending national champions are displaying their potential to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament even in the absence of Clingan. The 7 foot 2 sophomore averages 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, but the Huskies are showing they are a complete team even without him. Fill in starter Samson Johnson contributed eight points and six boards.

Butler: The Bulldogs have exceeded the expectations some had for them so far this season, but they are struggling on defense lately. During a three game losing streak, Butler has allowed 86.3 points per game. All three opponents have shot at least 50% from the floor. UP NEXT UConn: Will play Wednesday night at Xavier, which swept the season series in 2022 23.

Butler: Will play Wednesday night at No. 7 Marquette, which has won five of the past six meetings. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. . ___ AP college basketball: and.