HARTFORD, Conn. – Alex Karaban tied a career-high with 26 points and No. 4 UConn made its case to be considered the nation's best team with an 80-67 victory over Georgetown on Sunday.
Cam Spencer added 20 points for the Huskies (15-2, 5-1 Big East), who won their fifth straight game, all without starting center Donovan Clingan, who was sidelined with a right foot injury. Freshman Stephon Castle added 14 points.
Coach Dan Hurley said the Huskies have earned the right to the No. 1 spot and embrace the “goal” that would come with it.
“We have the will and the confidence of a championship program, in the brutalist league in the country,” he said.
Supreme Cook scored 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Hoyas (8-9, 1-5). Jayden Epps added 16 points and Dontrez Styles added 11.
UConn opened the game on a 6-2 run, with 3-pointers from Spencer and Karaban a sign of things to come.
But without Clingan, UConn struggled to contain Cook. The Fairfield transfer made his first four shots and scored Georgetown's first 10 points, keeping the Hoyas in the game from the start.
Cook had 16 points and 10 rebounds at halftime, but fouled out with more than six minutes left in the game.
“I'm proud of him,” coach Ed Cooley said. “Because he's out there fighting. We need other strikers in there. The Hoyas have to do a better job helping him.”
Karaban made five of his six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. His fourth of the game gave the Huskies their first double-digit lead at 32-22 and the Huskies led 40-31 at halftime.
The 6-foot-8 sophomore has spent much of his time playing center with Clingan out, which has created many mismatches on both ends of the floor.
“Nobody's going to feel sorry for us just because we're missing one of our best players,” Karaban said. “We just have to go out and play at another level.”
The Hoyas got within six points in the second half, but couldn't get any closer.
The Huskies shot 51% from the field and made 13 of their 24 shots from behind the arc.
BIG PICTURE
Georgetown: The Hoyas have lost the last seven meetings against UConn and now trail the Huskies 37-36 in the series.
UConn: With all three teams above the Huskies losing this week (Purdue, Houston and Kansas), the defending national champions have a chance to be No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday.
CLINGAN IS CLOSE TO RETURN
Hurley said Clingan, who participated in warmups Sunday, won't be back quickly from his foot injury, but the 7-2 sophomore could be ready for limited minutes with the Huskies shortly.
“He has the experience from last year coming off the bench,” Hurley said. “We'll do that initially with him and play him like we did last year: short stints until he's potentially ready to get starting minutes.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
