UConn survives tense March Madness opener with Oklahoma

Raleigh, NC – The 3-peat bid is alive and remains intact.

For now.

UCONN is the two-time NCAA champions who endured Angst's season and survived 67-59 Oklahoma in a tense first-round match at the Lenovo Center on Friday night.

The victory was UConn's 13th consecutive victory in the NCAA Tournament over the past three seasons.

“The championship pedigree, that's still there for us,” coach Danny Hurley said. Someone will have to put us in this tournament for us to leave.

“I think we're a dangerous team, because most people choose us, and I think we'll lose our first game.

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Certainly, UConn's difficulty now has increased ratchets, with Florida's number one in the way of history.

The Husky (24-10) and the Gators (31-4) will play each other at the Sweet 16 spot at Lenovo Center at 12:10pm on Sunday.

“The three teams (who win back-to-back titles) since the tournament expanded are the US, Duke and Florida,” Harley said.

Florida absolutely wiped out Norfolk State, 95-69, in their first night match at Lenovo on Friday.

Leading by future NBA star Walter Clayton Jr., who led all the scorers with 23 points, the Gators are a beast, offensive powerhouse.

UConn held the lead in the game for 38 minutes compared to just 17 seconds in Oklahoma, but stress levels on Friday were insecure and very branding that the Huskies live in all seasons.

Oklahoma had only one 47-46 lead in the game, leaving 9:03 in a basketball from the Bronx native Mohamedwag.

The Sooners were also tied together once with 54-54 games remaining.

It needed a slow heroic from Alex Karavan, the sole return starter from last year's Huskies team.

He hit a huge 3-pointer to give UConn a 60-56 lead with 3:35 remaining before making the runner with a 64-58 lead at 2:15.

“I just saw that I was wide open,” Karavan said. [a shot] I was in the corner a little earlier and I should have shot, so I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I had to look at it and just skip it.”

Harley had words with him after Karavan handed him the shot he mentioned.

What did he say?

“Shoot the F'ing Ball,” Hurley said.

Harley called the stress of the game a “michael of the season.” ”

“But what about this team is that we were really fighting tested and we had to fight hard all year round,” he said.

“But yeah,” continued Harley, “There was a lot of suffering going on.”

If UConn survives and advances to Sweet 16, it will need to be much more offensive and fluid than it was on Friday night.

The Husky struggled with one of the top offensive threats, averaged 14.5 points per game, Liam McNeely, and scored eight points in 13 shots. Hassandiara finished 6-of-6 from the field with four points.

UConn won a big game off the bench from Tarris Reed Jr. He scored 12 points six-sixths from the field in his first NCAA tournament game.

UConn went out of Oklahoma 20-7 with a bench point.

UConn, who has struggled defensively this season, has kept Oklahoma at 32.1% off the field.

The main scorer for Oklahoma was the terror of future NBA star Jeremiah, but the terror was five-fourths off the field.

“As much as our defense has [struggled] A lot of things have “we've moved us forward today,” Harley said.

So, at least on another day, UConn pursues history and empowers it.