How Texas can erase UConn's star sharpshooter Alex Karaban in tonight's clash

The Texas Longhorns head to Hartford, CT, tonight to take on the surging UConn Huskies at PeoplesBank Arena. Though multiple Huskies have been playing extremely well this year, one player in particular is the heart and soul of the UConn basketball team: Alex Karaban.

The 6'8", 230-pound RS. Senior forward has been absolutely lights out over the first 10 games of the 2025 season. He's currently averaging 13.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, shooting 43.5% from three-point range, and 1.2 blocks per game on defense. He's a classic utility forward that does everything pretty well, and he can play multiple roles for Dan Hurley's team.

If the Longhorns want to throw a wrench in UConn's high-powered engine tonight, they'll have to limit what Karaban does as much as they possibly can.

One of the main ways that they can do that is by staying in a defense that allows Dailyn Swain to stick on Karaban all night long. Whether it's just simply man-defense or some sort of "junk" defense with a combination of man-defense in the backcourt. The Longhorns might feel comfortable with Matas Vokietaitis guarding the rim, so the frontcourt can probably stick to zone.

Karaban is most dangerous when he's able to find open space on the perimeter, and that's where Dailyn Swain's size (6'8", 225 lbs.) and defensive strengths match up well with Karaban. Swain's hand movement makes it hard for opponents to put the ball on the floor around him, as he already has 16 steals in 2025. All the Longhorns want Karaban to do tonight is run around and pass the ball, nothing else.

Yes, it'll still be incredibly hard for Texas' underwhelming defense to stop UConn's other stars like Solo Ball and Tarris Reed jr., but shutting down Karaban would force those players to be used in ways that they're not used to.

It's undoubtedly going to be interesting to see what Sean Miller decides to do tonight against the 9-1 Huskies on defense.