Dan Hurley gives "under appreciated" UConn veteran Alex Karaban his flowers after Xavier win: "The whole program changed"

UConn veteran Alex Karaban stepped up in Dan Hurley's team 94-89 overtime thriller against Xavier. Karaban finished with 20 points, five rebounds and three blocks in the win that improved the No. 11 Huskies' record to 9-3.

After a quiet night against No. 13 Gonzaga on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, scoring just eight points, Karaban erupted against the Musketeers on Wednesday at XL Center. He shot 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-8 from the 3-point range.

After the game, Dan Hurley took the opportunity to highlight Alex Karaban's importance to the team.

"We do run some good stuff for him," Hurley told Fox Sports. "The whole program changed when Alex Karaban entered the scene here. And, you know, he's under appreciated, obviously. But, more performances like this in games like tonight will get him the respect he deserves."

Karaban, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, has been terrific for the Huskies this campaign. The Massachusetts native has played 10 games, missing two due to injury and has averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Dan Hurley reflects on a hard fought win over Xavier

Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies have now won five in a row after beating the Xavier Musketeers 94-89 on Wednesday in their first Big East conference game of the season.

UConn had to fight hard for the win as it went into overtime after the score was tied 78-78 in normal time.

"Just really proud of our guys, proud of how we've been the last couple weeks in our refusal when we got down five to allow the game to slip away," he said (1:47).

"Tonight was kind of like the recipe to lose a game. I just think the resolve that we've shown ... just being down five and having a chance to close it out in regulation, not doing that but then responding in overtime, was great. I thought the crowd really helped us."

Xavier ended the first half on top with a point lead (30-29) but then UConn fought back in the second half scoring 49 points to Xavier's 48 to tie the game and take it to overtime.

Following a disastrous trip to the Maui Invitational last month, where the Huskies went 0-3, losing to Memphis, Colorado and Dayton, many had written them off.

However, the defending national champion has bounced back in an impressive fashion. Since then, they have defeated tough opponents like Baylor, Texas and more recently No. 13 Gonzaga. They played Butler (7-5) next on Saturday.