"It's like life, sometimes you've got to eat sh**": Dan Hurley gets real on Alex Karaban missing clutch FTs vs Villanova

Coach Dan Hurley offered his thoughts on Alex Karaban missing consecutive free throws in the UConn Huskies' 68-66 loss to the Villanova Wildcats, 68-66, snapping their unblemished 4-0 conference record, on Wednesday.

To add insult to injury, the defeat was by way of their own lapses in the tightly contested game. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching one was when third-year swingman Alex Karaban missed two crucial free throws with just three seconds left. Villanova had a 67-66 lead at the time, so the junior could've knotted up or won the game for his team.

During the post-game press conference, Hurley shared his sentiments about Karaban. He said that heartbreaking moments like these would fuel him to do bette, as he said, per UConn journalist Joe Arruda:

"It's like life, sometimes you've got to eat sh*t. Sometimes, you're gonna have bad moments. His first two years in college have been a fairy tale."

Before his clanks off the charity stripe, Karaban would miss back-to-back jumpers, with one being a 3-point attempt, two possessions before. He did, however, cap off his scoring output with a three-ball in the 2:07 mark of the second half to bring UConn within three points of the Wildcats, 67-64.

Right after his misses from the foul line, the 6-foot-8 forward grabbed the final rebound of the fixture off a Wildcats' Wooga Poplar freebie miss as the final buzzer sounded, handing the Huskies a loss. Karaban ended the game with 10 points, going 4-for-10 overall and 2-of-7 with his free throws, three rebounds and four assists.

---

This is the first time Alex Karaban has missed two free throws in a row

According to Villanova basketball reporter Tommy Godin, this is the first time Alex Karaban has missed consecutive free throws in his collegiate stint, as reported by the FOX Sports broadcast. He had 151 free throw attempts overall before the misses, where he was an outstanding 84.1% career free throw shooter.

On the campaign, Karaban is averaging 81.4% on his free throw attempts and will look to bounce back from coming up short with one of his best strengths as an athlete. The Huskies take on the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday as they look to return to the win column.