Jahmyl Telfort, who scored nine of the Bulldogs’ 10 points in the second half, cut their deficit to two with 10 seconds to go but his game-winning attempt hit off the top of the backboard as the final buzzer sounded.

The 80-78 victory helped the No. 19 Huskies improve to 14-5 on the year and 6-2 in Big East play. It was their ninth game this season decided by five points or less, and their fifth victory in such games.

UConn is now 11-0 in its all-time series against Butler (8-11, 1-7 Big East).

Ball, who made a 3-pointer that felt like a knockout blow with 1:39 on the clock in overtime and then missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Telfort another shot at the end, finished with a career-high 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Alex Karaban scored five of his 19 points in overtime and added seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

Centers Samson Johnson and Reed scored 14 points a piece.

Five minutes in, Reed, who was challenged by Dan Hurley after a stretch of rough outings, ripped away an offensive rebound and scored a layup, igniting the crowd and elating his coach, who ran over and embraced Aidan Mahaney at the scorer’s table. On the defensive end, Karaban swatted a 3-point attempt from Patrick McCaffery and passed ahead to Ball for a layup in transition, prompting Hurley to smack the scorer’s table in celebration.

That series, which put the Huskies up by nine less than six minutes in, set the tone for most of the first half.

Ball scored 15 points in the opening period, knocking down 3 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc. He rebounded a couple of his own misses and was able to salvage those possessions with points, as well. UConn continued to show off its transition offense, forcing three turnovers in a two-minute span and capitalizing to grow the lead to 15 with four and a half minutes until the break.

The Huskies didn’t make another field goal for the rest of the half and allowed a 9-0 Butler run, but Ball got to the line after a second-chance layup attempt to send UConn into the break with a 39-31 advantage.

In an inspired defensive effort early, UConn blocked seven shots in the first half and held the Bulldogs to 40.7% shooting from the field.

Butler’s Jahmyl Telfort denied any opportunity for the Huskies to pull away through much of the second half, powering to the rim as he scored 10 points after the break. He cut UConn’s lead to four around the eight-minute mark, but Jayden Ross finished a tough layup through contact and Ball nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the night to bring the Huskies’ advantage back to nine.

But UConn’s defense slipped from the first half. In another three-minute offensive slump, the Huskies got sloppy and let Butler back into it again. The Bulldogs took advantage of the miscues and put together an 11-1 scoring run, giving them their first lead of the game after a 3-pointer and a layup from Finley Bizjack (17 points) with four minutes to go.

The Bulldogs didn’t make another shot from the field in regulation but got enough from the free throw line to have the score tied in the final seconds. Hassan Diarra, who missed a desperation shot on what appeared to be UConn’s final possession, stole Butler’s inbound pass with 2.5 seconds left in regulation and came inches away from nailing a half court heave for the win.

UConn is back on the road this weekend, meeting Xavier in Cincinnati for an 8 p.m. tip on Saturday. The Musketeers took the Huskies to overtime at the XL Center when they met on Dec. 18, a 94-89 UConn win.

The Bobcats have won the festival of top-tier state teams three years in a row, and have proven that Connecticut’s answer to Boston’s Beanpot can be a springboard for bigger things.

“I love the time of year that we do it,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “You’ve got your team set, you’re getting ready. You’re not fully into playoff mode but you’re getting there, and any time you can play for a trophy, better that it’s late in the year, it is a great springboard to get us ready for an ECAC run and hopefully for all four of us, an NCAA run.”

Dom Amore: With Hudson Schandor’s rock-steady leadership, UConn hockey striking for new territory

The Bobcats knocked off UConn in 2023 and carried that momentum all the way to the Frozen Four, where their will to survive and advance culminated in a national championship. They knocked off the Huskies again last January at the XL Center to skate back to Hamden with the trophy, and again played deep into the NCAA Tournament.

This fifth staging of CT Ice, rotating to Fairfield and Sacred Heart’s lavish new Martire Family Arena this weekend, finds all four teams with varying degrees of tournament hope. UConn and Quinnipiac start off at 4 p.m. Friday, with Yale vs. Sacred Heart to follow.  The winners meet Saturday night. The $70 million arena has 3,600 seats and a full house, or near to it, is expected.

For UConn, getting over the in-state hump could be the springboard to a breakthrough to the national stage. The Huskies have had a productive start to the second half, sweeping New Hampshire at home Jan. 11-12 and getting a win and a tie, four of six points, in a weekend series at Maine last week. They are No.9 in the all-important PairWise ratings, which is well into at-large territory for the NCAA Tournament. With Hockey East stacked with five of the top nine teams, none of its contenders would want to have to win the conference tournament to move on to the big one.

The NCAA Tournament has eluded UConn since it joined Hockey East in 2014, as has the CT Ice trophy.

“I have always said, from my years of coaching in the Beanpot (while at Boston College) and this tournament, I think it’s a great dress rehearsal for what’s to come,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “When you’re playing in a game where there’s a trophy on the line, it’s single elimination, it prepares your team to play a little bit differently. It’s different from the following weekend, we play Providence and if you lose the first, it doesn’t mean your chances of winning anything are gone.”

Quinnipiac (14-7-2), at No. 14 in PairWise, could push itself back up onto familiar territory with another Connecticut crown, or at least better position itself for the ECAC Tournament. Yale (5-11-1) beat Boston University on Dec. 29, indicating the Bulldogs can be a dangerous underdog. Sacred Heart (14-8-4), which snatched the first CT Ice title in 2021, is in first place in its conference, Atlantic Hockey America, and has impressive out of conference wins over Cornell and UMass.

“We’ve played some really good teams during the year and have had some ups and downs,” Pioneers coach C.J. Marottolo said. “But you pull experiences. We’ve come from behind, we’ve had good third periods, we’ve had good starts. There are a lot of things that create experiences for your team. On any given night, any team can beat anybody. The three teams in this tournament, it’s unbelievable competition.”

UConn has risen on the shoulders of veterans Hudson Schandor, who has more than 100 career points, and John Spetz, who returned for a fifth season. Heroics have been coming from a variety of players. Joey Muldowney scored four goals in the win at Maine last Friday and Avon’s Jake Percival came up with a goal late in the third period to force OT in the second game.

“Maine’s a very tough  place to play,” Cavanaugh said, “one of the best atmospheres in college hockey, a tough place to get points. I was proud of the team’s effort, but there’s a long way to go. From week to week, it can change very quickly. In tournaments like this, we’re going to have to play our very best. Quinnipiac’s a three-time champion and they’ve got a lot of pedigree.”

Freshman Claire Murdoch brings a mature game to UConn women’s hockey

Quinnipiac has lost four of five games earlier in the season against Hockey East opponents Maine, New Hampshire and Northeastern, but is unbeaten in its last five games. Sophomore Mason Marcellus (five goals, 18 assists) leads the team in scoring, and has 59 points in 62 college games. Senior Jack Ricketts leads the Bobcats with 10 goals.

Junior Felix Trudeau, with 13 goals and 14 assists, leads Sacred Heart with 27 points in 26 games.

Ronan O’Donnell, a first-year player from Fairfield, leads Yale with nine goals and five assists. The Bulldogs’ captain is senior Will Dineen, from the famous hockey family, including his father, Kevin, the Whalers captain in the 1990s, and grandfather Bill, who coached the Whalers in the 1970s.

“I came into the year expecting a lot,” Yale coach Keith Allain said. “We had a good, big freshman class, our seniors are great. We’ve been pretty banged up all through the fall. So I went into Christmas break not really sure what we had, but we’re getting healthier and since we’ve come back we’ve played well. We’re a better hockey team than we were Dec. 1, that’s for sure, and we’d like to use a tournament like this to make sure we’re a better team Feb. 1 than we are right now.”

Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: CT Sun staying put, charting new course into WNBA future; On Titans’ Will Levis, Coach K’s idea

But Dan Hurley, increasingly frustrated with his team’s lack of will and intensity, remains optimistic that the return of the star freshman can bandage some of his team’s exposed wounds.

Hurley said he saw hints of “vintage UConn basketball” in the game against Georgetown on Jan. 11, where defensive stops and transition offense helped build a lead of as many as 23 points in the second half. But that lead dissipated and the Huskies didn’t show the same fight when they returned home after a week without games and lost to Creighton.

“We haven’t been able to get there just because of the defensive end of the court and your ability to, across the board, rebound the ball,” Hurley said Monday night. “I think that’s why it’s so frustrating. Because it’s such a big season for us, too, and to not be where you want to be because you didn’t play with the life or death urgency that you need to in such an important year, it’s frustrating.”

The buzz before the year, part of the reason both Hurley and captain Alex Karaban turned down the NBA to stay in Storrs, surrounded the unique opportunity to compete for a third national championship in a row.

The word “three-peat” hasn’t been used very much lately.

“I got a lot going on in my mind right now. I’m thinking about a lot of things,” Hurley said, speaking candidly to local reporters before the team took over the press room at the XL Center for another film session before Tuesday’s game against Butler. “Has the success softened us? Has my intensity dropped? Have I lost my edge? Have we gotten soft with our success and feel entitled to it, and don’t have the will to earn it? We do have a lot of people though that haven’t won championships with us or weren’t integral parts of our championships, so I don’t know…”

Can a freshman be counted on to fix that? Can McNeeley be the magical sealant that, with one coat, can make a screen door float above water?

He will certainly help.

McNeeley was the Huskies’ second-leading scorer when he went down on New Year’s Day against DePaul. He was the team’s second-leading rebounder and was improving as a defender, two areas of which the team is in desperate need. McNeeley also played with a fire and an intensity, like Cam Spencer, that Hurley has been searching for.

The one-and-done type prospect “moved around” to test what movement felt like on his ankle during Monday’s practice, though his status hasn’t changed. Hurley’s initial hope was to have McNeeley back toward the end of January, before the team faces a February gauntlet with two games against both No. 10 Marquette and No. 20 St. John’s, as well as a road trip to Creighton, where the program has never won.

“His absence has affected multiple players negatively,” Hurley said.

A player like veteran point guard Hassan Diarra, who started the season coming off the bench, has logged too many minutes and has been drained by the end of games. Production from the center position has suffered, too, without a player like McNeeley drawing some of the attention in the paint and creating opportunities for easy buckets.

McNeeley’s absence takes away a lot of the lineup flexibility that had been so valuable to UConn’s last two national championship teams.

Solo Ball has been a tough player to take off the court with his offensive production, which has proven absolutely critical in keeping the Huskies among the top 10 most efficient offensive teams in the nation. But he’s been exposed, targeted, on the defensive end.

“With Liam in there, it would give you more flexibility to put in a defensive-minded guy if someone was struggling on the perimeter defensively. But with Liam out, obviously you need Solo’s offense, you need Alex’s offense and then obviously you need a point guard and yeah, you could afford to have another guy out there that maybe isn’t a great offensive player but brings intangibles and things like that with one of the centers,” Hurley said.

Ball, shooting 44.6% from beyond the arc, 19-for-36 (52.8%) since he made seven 3s at DePaul, entered Tuesday’s game ranked 18th among qualified Division I shooters in 3-point percentage.

“For guys like Jordan Hawkins, sophomore year I think as we got into like this point in the year, he really became sturdy defensively. I just think that Solo’s got great intentions, it’s not like one of those guys that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m a bucket and I’m one of the best shooters in the country, screw you guys.’ That’s not it with him,” Hurley said. “He feels the stress, the pressure to become a better defensive player for our team and it bothers him as much as any of the coach when he has defensive struggles. But it’s literally at every position. It’s well beyond Solo.”

UConn was projected as a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s early March Madness bracketology for ESPN, which was released Tuesday morning. In his projection, the Huskies would still have a favorable path of playing the first two rounds in Providence and then, should they advance to the second weekend, making another short trip to Newark, New Jersey.

Right now, the Huskies have a good enough offense to make a run. But the defensive end is what determines this team’s ceiling.

“I think just our defense, our rebounding and our overall toughness, we’ve become a finesse offensive team that runs a lot of good stuff on offense, but we’ve got to get our toughness back,” Hurley said.

How do you do that?

“That’s a tough one,” he said, stumped at the question that’s surely been asked dozens of times in coaches’ meetings.

“You do it with honesty, you do it with evidence, you do it with video. You’re told that with modern athletes or kids these days you have to be careful with how you talk to them, you know? But here, we go with honesty. We go with accountability. We go with, ‘Here’s what the film says, here’s what the numbers say. When you’re on the court with us, here’s your role in how we’re failing defensively,'” Hurley said. “Obviously you’ve spent a lot of time, too, trying to think if there’s a scheme change you could make defensively. But the way we’ve guarded has been really effective for a long time.”

No. 6 UConn hasn’t been tested much in the Big East, averaging a 35-point margin of victory, but the Huskies’ schedule is a grind. The team played four of its first five games after the holiday break on the road, and it will also finish the season with four of its five ranked non-conference matchups played at neutral or road sites. Even the XL Center doesn’t bring the same home-arena feel for the team, which stays overnight at a hotel before games in Hartford, and it was clear in Sunday’s 96-36 rout of Seton Hall how much the Huskies benefit from playing in Storrs.

“We’re mentally tired, we’ve been on the road a lot, and I think the Georgetown game especially and the St. John’s game, for long stretches both of those games were played at a pace that doesn’t necessarily suit us,” Auriemma said. “Then we get back home a couple days, and now we’re on our own court, in our crowd, and we’re flying up the floor … I really am happy for them. They looked like they were having fun. Sometimes this time of year right before school starts back up again, these are like the dark days.”

UConn (17-2, 8-0 Big East) will embark on another brutal stretch of away games after facing the Wildcats (10-9, 4-3), facing four of their next six opponents on the road including No. 17 Tennessee and No. 2 South Carolina. Knowing that things aren’t going to get any easier from here for his inexperienced roster, coach Geno Auriemma said the coaching staff made a decision to simplify the offense dramatically following a 71-45 win at St. John’s last Wednesday.

“The last couple days of practice (we) kind of slashed our offensive playbook a lot. I think there were way too many things to choose from,” Auriemma said after beating Seton Hall. “We gave them a bar menu instead of the whole dinner menu. We just scaled it down to four or five things that we wanted to do and just stick with those the entire game, and I think that the confidence and the flow comes from that. We were consistent in shooting the ball, and that’s where it all comes from.”

The more straightforward game plan was an instant success against the Pirates. UConn’s superstar trio of Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong accounted for 59 points shooting a combined 68.7% from the field and 64.7% from 3-point range playing less than 25 minutes apiece. Bueckers also had her second-best passing performance of the season with a team-high seven assists, and the team finished with all 12 available players scoring points for the first time since 2008. UConn’s 60-point margin of victory was also its largest since a 103-35 rout of Butler when Bueckers was a freshman in 2021.

“I think less is more sometimes in terms of our efficiency and what we can get out of certain sets,” Bueckers said Sunday. “There’s a certain amount of sets that we have, but there’s a million options in each set, so (we) just narrowed it down, make sure we get really good at what we want to run and have the other stuff there in the back pocket when you need it. So I think it made strides for our offense.”

Geno Auriemma sees championship path after UConn women’s basketball’s vintage dominance vs. Seton Hall

The Huskies will look to keep the momentum rolling when they return to Gampel Pavilion for a rematch with Villanova. UConn earned a comfortable 67-46 win when the teams last met on the Wildcats’ home court Jan. 5, but that victory was overshadowed when Bueckers suffered a left knee sprain in the third quarter that sidelined her for the Huskies’ next two games.

Bueckers put up 15 points, nine assists and three steals playing just 25 minutes in the first meeting with Villanova, and sophomore KK Arnold stepped up after her injury with a season-high 15 points behind Strong’s team-leading 21. Now with Bueckers back on the court, the Huskies are getting even more dangerous: Fudd is quickly returning to the best version of herself averaging 18.8 points shooting 61.2% and 56.5% on 3-pointers, and redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy continues to build confidence logging six-plus rebounds in each of the last three games plus a career-high four blocks at Georgetown on Jan. 11.

“We’re getting better at the things that that you need to be better at to win come NCAA tournament time: Keeping people off the free throw line, not giving up uncontested and open threes, uncontested drives to the basket, second shots,” Auriemma said. “There were a lot of things that happened (Sunday) that we need to clean up, but we’re getting better at those things and and that’s a great sign. I keep forgetting they’re so young still and it drives me crazy, but they’re still young.”

How to watch UConn women’s basketball vs. Villanova

Site: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs

Time/date: 7 p.m., Wednesday

Series record: UConn leads 45-18

Last meeting: 67-46 UConn, Jan. 5 in Villanova, Pa.

TV: SNY

Streaming: SNY.tv, FOXsports.com

Radio: UConn Sports Network on Fox Sports 97.9

Casper’s younger sister Samantha scored all of her 15 points in the second half for the Lions (13-0). Shania Howard led Holy Cross (11-1) with 18 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Northwest won the Class MM championship last year and the Class S title two years ago. Holy Cross was the Class M champion in 2022 and the Class L runner-up last year.

Holy Cross led once, after Quinn Barry scored the first basket of the game, then Northwest took over and never trailed. The Lions led 13-6 after one quarter and 25-22 at halftime. Samantha Casper hit a 3-pointer and Abby back to back shots and Northwest led 32-24. Holy Cross cut the lead to 39-35 on a Mia Mattaboni fast break basket but Abby Casper had a putback and Maeve Staunton’s jumper closed out the quarter with Northwest leading 50-35. Staunton had 12 points for the Lions.

“This is huge,” Northwest Catholic coach Alison Connors said. “We needed this. You never know what’s going to happen at states – we got the whole package tonight, a long bus ride, a loud gym, not many people on our side. Holy Cross had a great showing, a great team. We needed the challenge to make sure we knew how to make the right plays at the right time.”

Northwest Catholic 64, Holy Cross 53

Northwest Catholic 13 12 25 14 – 64

Holy Cross 6 16 17 14 – 53

Northwest Catholic: Maeve Staunton 5 0 12, Lilyan Johnson 2 0 5, Zoey Canning 5 0 10, Samantha Casper 5 0 15, Abigail Casper 8 2 20, Lyla Diaz 1 0 2. Totals: 26 2 64.

Holy Cross: Shania Howard 5 8 18 Maddie Neibel 1 0 3, Julia Begvegnu 1 0 2, Isabella Lombardo 3 0 7, Amelia Mowad 1 0 2, Mia Mattabani 4 1 9, Cheyanne Little 1 0 2, Quinn Barry 5 0 10. Totals: 21 9 53.

Records: Northwest Catholic, 13-0; Holy Cross, 11-1.

It was the program’s first loss in Connecticut in nearly two years as its 28-game home winning streak came to an end.

One of those close wins came at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Dec. 21, when Butler cut down an 11-point deficit midway through the second half and fought back to get within two in the final seconds, but couldn’t overcome Alex Karaban‘s clutch shooting in a 78-74 Huskies’ victory.

Karaban has been up-and-down since, notably scoring eight points on just 3-for-12 shooting as the streak of nearly two calendar years came to an end on Saturday. He tweaked his ankle in the second half of the game and will be a game time decision, coach Dan Hurley said, on Tuesday.

“He didn’t practice (Monday), but he shot, so we’ll see how he feels with that ankle,” Hurley said. “It’s a sprain, I don’t think it’s as bad as the one he had last year against Providence, where he didn’t play in the St. John’s game at MSG.”

Tuesday’s game will be UConn’s fifth without standout freshman Liam McNeeley, who scored 17 points with five rebounds and seven assists in the first matchup against the Bulldogs. His absence has been critical as the Huskies continue to struggle on the defensive end, on both backboards and with their tenaciousness, which Hurley called out over the weekend.

Dom Amore: For Dan Hurley’s Huskies, the grace period has expired. It’s time for tenacity

“We’ve given up close to 47% from the field in Big East or high-major games this year. Our past teams, those numbers, even years when we had early exits in the tournament, we were holding people to 40% from the field,” Hurley said. “I think just our defense, our rebounding and our overall toughness, we’ve become a finesse offensive team that runs a lot of good stuff on offense, but we’ve got to get our toughness back… (Liam) will fix a lot of our issues when he gets back, but our defense overall, you’re not going anywhere doing that. You can’t compete for anything when you’re 126th.”

UConn, which is ranked No. 7 on offense and No. 127 on defense by KenPom, has never lost to Butler in the 10-game all-time series between the programs, which met for the first time in the 2011 national championship game.

The December loss for Butler came in the middle of a nine-game losing skid, which ended Wednesday as the Bulldogs claimed their first Big East win of the year against Seton Hall. They’ll come into the XL Center on Tuesday after six days without games.

It was the Bulldogs’ frontcourt that gave UConn the most trouble in their previous matchup, as 6-foot-9 forward Patrick McCaffery and 7-foot-1 center Andre Screen scored 17 points a piece. Screen grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots as Butler claimed a 32-31 advantage on the glass – one of four times UConn has been outrebounded in its six Big East matchups. The last three have come in four games without McNeeley, who was the team’s second-leading rebounder when he went down.

Hurley will look for a bounce back game from Tarris Reed Jr. – one of the players who possesses the “nice guy” trait that he is trying to weed out – after he fouled out with just seven points in the previous matchup against Butler. Reed was minus-17 in 16 scoreless minutes on Saturday.

“We’ve got to play better across the board, especially the center spot,” Hurley said, reiterating that Reed needs to play with more force and ferocity. “(Butler is) hard to guard, with (Pierre) Brooks and (Jahmyl Telfort), McCaffery, it tells you just how hard it is to still win Big East games, no matter what the NET says, no matter what the KenPom says or any of the analytics. It’s a tough league to win games in, especially if you look at some of the firepower that they’ve got at the wing there and two pretty good centers and good guard play – and a great coach in Thad (Matta).

“It’s gonna be a hard game for us. We’re gonna be coming in banged up, short rest – they’ve had a week off – and we’re gonna need a great crowd and a real pick-me-up from playing in XL after the haunting experience at Gampel the other day… In an instance where you just lost one at one place, I kind of like the fact that I’m going to my other place.”

As the team continues to find its identity, more will and force across the board, those close games will persist. For now, especially if Karaban joins McNeeley in street clothes, the Huskies just need to find a way to win.

“These games are tougher, they’re grittier, it’s good to be a part of. It’s fun. You want to be in close games, you want to be in these Big East battles,” fifth-year point guard Hassan Diarra said. “We have to continue to do the right things so we can come out on the right side of them.”

UConn announces plan for Coaches vs. Cancer

Dan Hurley’s wife, Andrea, will again lead her memorial button initiative as the Huskies host their annual Coaches vs. Cancer game on Jan. 29 against DePaul. Fans will be able to find Andrea at a table on the XL Center concourse near section 124 when the doors open at 6:30, where they will be able to have a printed out photo (3″ or smaller) turned into a memorial button. Fans can also pre-submit photos by email at UConnHuskies.com/CvC. Cancer awareness ribbons will also be available at the table for fans to wear.

New this season, doctors from the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health will be set up on the concourse to offer free cancer screenings and education, as well as skin cancer checks prior to the game in the atrium. Patients from the Connecticut Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders will be honored on the court during the game.

What to know

Site: XL Center, Hartford.

Time: 7 p.m.

Records: No. 19 UConn: 13-5 (5-2 Big East), Butler: 8-10 (1-6)

Series: UConn leads, 10-0.

Last meeting: Dec. 21, 2024 – No. 11 UConn 78, Butler 74 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

TV: FS1 – Jason Benetti, Bill Raftery

Radio: Fox Sports 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman

Pregame reading:

• Dom Amore: For Dan Hurley’s Huskies, the grace period has expired. It’s time for tenacity
• UConn men’s basketball drops to No. 19 in AP Poll following second loss in three games
• UConn men’s basketball notes: Consistency is key for Jaylin Stewart as Huskies await McNeeley’s return
• UConn commit Darius Adams fits the mold of a future Husky, shows potential at Hoophall Classic

Torborg had battled Parkinson’s disease since 2010, though his official cause of death was not announced. He died in his hometown of Westfield, N.J., according to another of his former clubs, the Chicago White Sox.

“RIP Jeff Torborg,” Hall of Fame White Sox slugger Frank Thomas wrote on social media. “You were my first big league manager and I enjoyed playing for you. You gave me a chance to shine right away and I’m very thankful.”

Torborg was part of several clubs during his playing and managing career. In New York, he was best known as manager of the Mets beginning in 1992 before he was fired early in the 1993 season. He also spent nearly a decade on the Yankees’ coaching staff from 1979 to 1988.

“I knew there was a challenge here,” he said before his last game as Mets manager. “I just wish I was able to get more out of the team than I did, that’s all.”

On the field, Torborg was a backup catcher who hit .214 and launched eight home runs in 574 career games. However, he also had the rare distinction of catching three no-hitters during his 10-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels.

In 1965, Torborg caught the last of Sandy Koufax’s four career no-nos, a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. Five years later, he caught a no-hitter from two-time All-Star Bill Singer, who befuddled the Philadelphia Phillies. And in 1973, he caught the first of Nolan Ryan’s seven career no-hitters as the fireballer dominated the Kansas City Royals.

Torborg was also a member of the 1965 World Series-winning Dodgers squad, though he did not appear in the team’s seven-game victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Along with the White Sox and Mets, he managed the Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins.

As contract talks heated up with the free-agent left-hander, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman left the 2008 winter meetings in Las Vegas to sit down with Sabathia and his family at their home in Vallejo, Calif.

It was an atypical — and important — step in the Yankees signing Sabathia to a record-setting seven-year, $161 million deal.

That proved to be a franchise-altering investment.

Sabathia is expected to be part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025, with the results of this year’s vote scheduled to be announced Tuesday evening.

As of Monday afternoon, Sabathia had been included on 93.4% of the 172 ballots that were publicly released, or 46.7% of the total tickets, according to Ryan Thibodaux’s HOF tracker. It’s a strong indication Sabathia will finish with the 75% needed for induction.

“It was always just about surviving,” Sabathia said last month at a charity event for his PitCCh In Foundation. “I really started playing just to help me and my mom out, so I never thought I would end up in Cooperstown. To have people consider my career that way, it’s just a blessing in itself.”

This is the first year on the ballot for Sabathia, who went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts in 3,577.1 innings over 19 MLB seasons with Cleveland, Milwaukee and the Yankees.

Sabathia is one of three left-handed pitchers to record at least 3,000 strikeouts, and one of 15 pitchers with 3,000 Ks and 250 wins. Nobody who debuted after 1989 threw more innings than the durable Sabathia, who is one of only 49 pitchers to win at least 250 games.

The last 11 of Sabathia’s seasons came with the Yankees, with whom the hulking left-hander won the 2009 World Series, twice led the majors in wins — including with a career-high 21 in 2010 — and became a respected clubhouse leader.

Originally a first-round pick by Cleveland in 1998, Sabathia made his MLB debut three years later as a 20-year-old and went 17-5 as a rookie. He pitched his first 7.5 seasons with Cleveland, winning his lone Cy Young Award in 2007, before being traded to the Brewers midway through the 2008 campaign.

Despite his impending free agency, Sabathia stepped up as a workhorse throughout the Brewers’ playoff push. His final three starts of the regular season came on three days’ rest, as did his Game 2 start in the 2008 NLDS.

The risk paid off for Sabathia, who finished 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts with Milwaukee.

Sabathia entered the 2008-09 offseason as the gem of the free-agent pitching market. The Yankees, who had just missed the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, were desperate for an ace.

But there were concerns Sabathia, who hailed from the Bay Area, didn’t want to play in New York. Cashman and the Yankees ultimately convinced Sabathia, signing him to what was then the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher.

Sabathia quickly lived up to his reputation as a big-game pitcher, going 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 36.1 innings over five starts in the 2009 postseason. He was named ALCS MVP that year and proved instrumental in winning what remains the Yankees’ most recent World Series championship.

Perhaps just as valuably, Sabathia helped instill a more close-knit clubhouse culture that the Yankees lacked before his arrival.

Sabathia starred as one of baseball’s best aces during his first four seasons with the Yankees, pitching at least 200 innings, winning at least 15 games and posting an ERA no higher than 3.38 each year.

The 6-6, 300-pound Sabathia remained a steady rotation presence for the rest of his tenure, finishing his 11-year Yankee career with a 134-88 record, a 3.81 ERA and 1,700 strikeouts over 1918.0 innings in 307 appearances, including 306 starts.

Sabathia threw at least 179.2 innings in 14 of his 19 MLB seasons, representing one of baseball’s last true workhorses. He was also a throwback in the sense that he pitched with an edge that played well in New York.

In his final start of 2018, Sabathia plunked Tampa Bay’s Jesus Sucre in response to the Rays’ Andrew Kittredge throwing behind Austin Romine earlier in the game. Sabathia was ejected from that game, costing him a chance at a $500,000 bonus he was six outs away from collecting.

In a show of good faith, the Yankees awarded Sabathia the bonus anyway.

Moments like those helped turn Sabathia, who last pitched in 2019, into a favorite among Yankees fans and brass as much as his postseason heroics did. The feeling was mutual, as Sabathia said he would “absolutely” go into the Hall as a Yankee.

“I mean, I played,” Sabathia said last month. “I did my thing. Now it’s just up to the writers to do the voting.”

Sabathia would become the first inductee to enter the Hall as a Yankee since former teammates Derek Jeter, who was part of the 2020 class, and Mariano Rivera, who was enshrined in 2019.

Another former Yankee teammate, Ichiro Suzuki, is also expected Tuesday to be named a first-ballot Hall of Famer, though he spent the bulk of his MLB career with the Seattle Mariners.

Suzuki recorded 3,089 hits — including a single-season-record 262 in 2004 — over 19 MLB seasons and earned 10 All-Star selections, all with Seattle. He won American League MVP and AL Rookie of the Year with the Mariners in 2001.

Suzuki played for the Yankees from 2012-14 — his age 38-40 seasons — and hit .281 over 360 games.

Between his MLB production and his 1,278 hits in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, Suzuki finished with 4,367 hits as a professional player — the most among anyone in baseball history.

Suzuki was included on 100% of the 172 public ballots as of Monday afternoon.

OTHER EX-YANKEES

Other former Yankees on the ballot include Carlos Beltran, who was tracking at 80.3% in his third year of eligibility; Andruw Jones, who was at 72.1% in his eighth year; Alex Rodriguez, who was at 42.1% in his fourth year; and Andy Pettitte, who was at 33.3% in his seventh year.

Rodriguez finished with 34.8% of the vote last year.

A-Rod ranks fourth in MLB history with 2,086 RBI; fifth with 696 home runs; and 22nd with 3,115 hits, but he served a season-long suspension in 2014 due to ties to baseball’s performance-enhancing-drug-related Biogenesis scandal. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are among the high-profile players who were not inducted into the Hall amid steroid allegations.

Players can spend up to 10 years on the ballot, so long as they receive at least 5% of the votes the previous year.

“I was like, ‘Oh. My. Goodness,’” Innerarity said.

“I’ve never seen this in all my coaching years. I have two freshmen who are leading the team in scoring.”

They are both guards: Mireidys Cruz-DeJesus, who is averaging 15 points per game and Kailyn Grate (18 ppg) for Prince Tech (9-2).

“They are amazing,” Innerarity said. “It was a total surprise.”

Cruz-DeJesus is a 3-point specialist. Both can handle the ball. In a 60-33 win over Abbott Tech last Wednesday, Cruz-DeJesus had 26 points and Grate had 25.

The Falcons are beating teams they haven’t been able to beat in years. They beat Windham Tech in their first game, 51-28. Ellis Tech beat Prince three times last year; Prince Tech beat Ellis 46-43 on Jan. 7.

The freshmen, Innerarity said, are unselfish and play well together.

“They’re not trying to outdo each other and they’re not in competition with each other,” she said.

Last year, the Falcons were the 24th seed in Class MM and lost to Berlin 56-19 in the first round of the state tournament. This season, they’re ranked fourth in Class MM behind Tolland, Sheehan and East Catholic.

Top performances

Maddie Begnini, Mercy: Begnini hit nine 3-pointers and had 33 points as Mercy defeated Foran 61-38 Friday.

Yzabella Colon, Plainville: Colon scored 17 points in a 46-36 win over Hall Saturday and had 15 points in a 57-52 win over Innovation Wednesday.

Maddy Handrahan, Glastonbury: Handrahan had 24 points, six assists and six steals in a 47-44 overtime win over Acton-Boxboro (Mass.) at the Hoophall Classic and had 13 points, three assists and five steals in a 27-21 win over Simsbury Thursday and 18 points in a 68-32 win over Middletown Monday.

Aniya Jenkins, Windham: Jenkins, a senior, scored her 1,000th point and had 24 points in an 85-24 win over Montville Friday.

Kylie Lake, Old Saybrook: Lake had 24 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in Old Saybrook’s 57-51 win over Cromwell Friday.

Sybil Neary, Old Lyme: Neary had 20 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block in a 37-35 win over Montville Monday.

Megan Wresien, Sheehan: Wresien had three 3-pointers and 17 points on Tuesday against Sacred Heart but Sheehan lost in overtime.

Symber Sutton, Innovation: Sutton scored 31 points in a 67-35 win over Weaver Friday.

Sophie Tumulis, Stafford: Tumulis had 15 points and 14 rebounds, two steals and five blocks in a 40-38 win over Comp Sci Tuesday.

Bailey Winner, East Windsor/Bloomfield: Winner had 21 points in a 54-45 win over Canton.

Storylines

Conard senior Emily Knowles set or tied a slew of school records in Conard’s 68-45 win over Bristol Eastern Tuesday. Knowles scored 40 points, which broke her record from last year of 38 points) and tied the school record for 3-pointers (7), broke the record for points in a half (29) and tied the record for points in a quarter (19 in the first quarter).

Sheehan had its nine-game win streak broken when the Titans lost last Tuesday to Sacred Heart 48-45 in overtime. Megan Wreisen scored 17 points for Sheehan (10-2).

Windsor lost last year’s mid-season transfer from New Jersey, Kamaria Bowens (who helped Windsor’s run to the Class L quarterfinals) when Bowens moved to Bristol and is now playing for Bristol Central. But Windsor got revenge of sorts, beating Bristol Central, 67-60 in overtime Jan. 13.

Games to Watch

Plainville (8-3) at Tolland (8-1), Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.: Tolland’s only loss came to Glastonbury and the Eagles, the top-ranked team in Class MM, have won four straight games.

Ledyard (7-3) at Windham (8-1), Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Windham’s only loss came Jan. 9 to New London, 40-35, while Ledyard has won its last three games.

East Catholic (9-2) at St. Paul (5-2), Thursday, 7 p.m.: St. Paul, last year’s Class M champion, has won its last two games after losing to WCA, while East Catholic has won six straight.

Coventry (10-1) at Granby (7-3), Friday, 6 p.m.: Coventry dropped its first loss to Woodstock Academy 47-41 Jan. 13 but bounced back to beat East Granby and Stafford.

The Eagles were headed to play then-unbeaten Manchester Friday. The game was sold out.

“We knew they were going to be coming out hard and they did,” Manchester coach John Reiser said.

East Catholic scored 27 points in the first quarter. Kahil Bell, who had five 3-pointers in the first half, had 11 points for the Eagles in the quarter.

Manchester regrouped, like the Red Hawks did in a win over Windsor, but couldn’t make it all the way back and East Catholic handed them their first loss, 72-66.

“It was a great high school game,” East Catholic coach Luke Reilly said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence and they’re really tough at home.

“We had come off a tough loss the day before, we were down 1 with 15 seconds left and we were unable to convert. That added a little sting for us going into the game.”

Brayden Jones had 28 points and 16 rebounds for East Catholic (9-2) and Bell had 18. Chance Clark led Manchester with 25 points.

Manchester had a one-point lead with about a minute left in the game but couldn’t hold on.

“Chance Clark hit a 3, just like Windsor,” Reiser said. “But there was too mujch time. We were right there. They’re a good team. to get down and battle back against such good teams says a lot about us. You take what you can from those games.”

And there will be a rematch Jan. 27, this time at East Catholic.

“It came down to the last minute and I thought we did a good job controlling the game,” Reilly said. “We executed where we had to and got a few critical stops.

“We’re getting there. we were unable to close the game out in Springfield but we were able to the next night, so that’s a good sign.”

Top performances

Jeff Akoff, Bloomfield: Akoff scored 28 points in a 67-43 win over Conard Monday.

Richard Chandler, Aerospace: Chandler had 24 points in a 51-50 win over Granby Friday and 18 points in a 76-42 win over Capital Prep Thursday.

Andrew Czerwinski, Somers: Czerwinski had 17 of his 26 points in the first half in a 60-46 win over Wheeler Thursday.

Tommy Dinunzio, Lewis Mills: Dinunzio had 33 points and 15 rebounds to lead Lewis Mills over Northwestern 64-40 on Saturday and 28 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in 66-58 win over Conard Friday.

Jack Grasso, Windsor Locks: Grasso scored 28 points in a 65-46 victory over Bolton Thursday.

Brady Marsh, Windham Tech: Marsh scored 33 points and had six steals, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks in a 69-52 win over Hartford Public Thursday.

Camden Mazerolle, E.O. Smith: Mazarolle had 20 points and 16 rebounds in a 53-41 win over South Windsor Friday.

Elijah Moore, Xavier: Moore scored 27 points in a 62-45 win over Fairfield Prep Wednesday.

Alex Weaver, Windsor: Weaver scored 25 points, six assists and three steals in a 76-66 win over Northwest Catholic Friday.

Avant Williams, Classical: Williams had 24 points in a 74-58 win over Bulkeley Thursday and 18 points in a 78-37 win over Capital Prep Tuesday.

Storylines

Aerospace stayed unbeaten at 11-0 last week when the Jets beat Granby 51-50 behind 24 points from Richard Chandler. Aerospace, which advanced to the Division V quarterfinals last year, is the top-ranked team in Div. IV.

Manchester senior Derrick Sheets scored his 1,000th point in a 68-58 win over New Britain Tuesday and that was not the only day this month he lit up the scoreboard. Sheets had 19 points in the loss to East Catholic, hitting five 3-pointers and on Jan. 10, in a 91-70 win over Tolland, Sheets hit 10 3-pointers and had 39 points.

Games to watch

 Ellington (9-0) at Granby (7-3), Tuesday, 6:45 p.m.: Granby has dropped its last two games by close margins but this is usually a good NCCC game.

Innovation (8-1) at Comp Sci (9-2), Thursday, 5 p.m.: Innovation, last year’s Div. IV champion, has a seven-game win streak, while Comp Sci is 6-1 in its last seven games.

Glastonbury (10-1) at Hall (8-2), Friday, 6:45 p.m.: Glastonbury hasn’t lost since the Guardians dropped a game to Northwest Catholic Dec. 21.

East Catholic (9-2) at Northwest Catholic (9-2), Friday, 6:45 p.m.: East is in the middle of a tough stretch, with a game against perennial rival Northwest sandwiched in between two games against Manchester.