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By Matt Audilet
Contributing Sports Writer
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Dan Hurley and the No. 2 seed UConn Huskies are heading to the Sweet 16 after a Round of 32 victory over the No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins on Sunday night.
The Huskies punched their ticket to the next round of the NCAA Tournament with a 73-57 final score, led by a masterful career performance from senior forward Alex Karaban.
Karaban finished the game with a career-high 27 points, shooting 56.3% from the field and 50% from behind the 3-point arc.
Read More on NCAA
Karaban is the winningest player in UConn men's basketball history, helping the program to back-to-back national championship victories in 2023 and 2024. Last year, the Huskies suffered an early second-round exit at the hands of the eventual-champion Florida Gators.
UConn trailed UCLA for a significant portion of the first half before ultimately pulling away on Sunday night.
Hurley made it very clear that Karaban won't be going down in March Madness without a fight.
“What you saw is a guy that’s attacking the game,” Hurley said of Karaban after the game. “He’s aggressively looking for all of his shots. He’s working his way to the ball. He’s driving the ball. I think that’s the difference. He’s not going down without firing all of his bullets.”
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“That’s the reality of it. I definitely don’t want my career to end,” Karaban said. “Every time I’ve had a decision to come back, I came back just wanting to win and help this team out. But also just enjoying every second I have in a UConn jersey.”
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Hurley, Karaban and the Huskies will matchup against the No. 2 seed Michigan State Spartans in a Sweet 16 matchup on Friday.
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