LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — 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.
Karaban 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.
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.
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.
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.
Dayton finished plus-16 in rebounding margin, including a 32-17 advantage on the defensive glass.
UConn hosts Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, while Dayton plays host to Western Michigan on Tuesday night.
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