Alex Karaban scored 21 and Liam McNeeley added 17 to help No. 11 UConn avoid the upset on the road at Butler 78-74 on Saturday in Indianapolis.
The Huskies (10-3) won their sixth straight.
The Bulldogs (7-6) got within two in the final minutes, but two consecutive 3-pointers from Karaban gave UConn five-point edge, 74-69, with 59 seconds to play.
The Huskies then knocked down all four of their free throws — two by Hassan Diarra with 15 seconds left and two by McNeely with 6 seconds remaining — to ice the game.
Butler battled back from down 16 points to tie the game late in the second half. The Bulldogs were within two with 8 seconds to play.
Andre Screen led Butler with a career-high 17 points with 10 rebounds. Patrick McCaffery also scored 17 while Pierre Brooks II added 13.
Connecticut stormed ahead early, in part thanks to the Bulldogs’ Jahmyl Telfort missing his first six shots from the floor before being benched.
Butler bounced back, though, bringing its deficit down to six as UConn went on a stretch of missing 6 of 7 from the floor.
Telfort then came off the bench and scored five, including a 3-pointer to bring Butler within three late in the first half.
The Huskies then closed the half strong, going on a 6-0 run while the Bulldogs missed 7 of 8 shots. UConn led 42-33 at the break.
UConn shot exactly 50 percent from the floor in the half (16 of 32), including 6 of 11 from deep. Butler stayed in it by committing just one turnover, a category that has given the Bulldogs trouble this season.
In the second half, Butler got knocked down and got right back up multiple times.
The Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to bring themselves within five at 51-46. The Huskies responded and bumped it back to double-digits, but Butler didn’t quit.
A separate 8-0 run from Butler tied the game at 63 with 4:43 left in regulation.
UConn remains undefeated against Butler in program history, improving to 10-0 with all 10 matchups taking place since 2011.
–Field Level Media
