Storrs — Alex Karaban is having a productive first season at UConn while holding down the starting power forward spot.

The Huskies hope Karaban, a redshirt freshman, will be available to play his usual reliable role on Sunday against St. John’s at the XL Center in Hartford.

Karaban hasn’t practiced since injuring his shoulder in Wednesday’s loss at Marquette.

“He’s been limited,” Hurley said on Friday. “We’ll just see how he feels (Saturday). He’s not been in practice the last two days. … We’re hopeful that Alex may be able to practice (Saturday). He’s heading for maybe that game-time decision.”

“... The x-rays and MRI, he’s done a ton of testing. Everything looks good there. It’s just a matter of whether he’ll be good enough to go.”

After suffering the injury, Karaban continued to play and finished with 17 points, two shy of tying his season high.

“He’s such a tough guy,” Hurley said. “He just played through it and didn’t really feel it until the next day.”

Karaban is making a strong case for All-Big East freshman honors. He’s averaging 9.6 points and 4.2 rebounds.

His backup, sophomore Samson Johnson, is getting close to returning.

Johnson, who’s been sidelined with a foot injury since early November, participated in live practice drills for the first time Friday, but he’s not ready to return to game action just yet.

“He’s making good progress,” Hurley said.

Hurley to watch Castle, Ross

After running practice Saturday morning, Hurley will head to Springfield, Mass., for the Spalding Hoophall Classic, which will feature some of the top high school teams and players in the country. The event runs through Monday at Springfield College’s Blake Arena.

He’ll watch two members of his top five recruiting class play.

Stephon Castle, a 6-foot-6 point guard, will lead Newton (Ga.) High School against IMG Academy from Florida at noon. Then 6-7 wing Jayden Ross and Long Island Lutheran take on Oak Hill Academy of Virginia at 3 p.m.

Castle is the ninth-ranked recruit in the nation, according to 247Sports.

Hurley breaks into a smile when talking about his future Huskies.

“It will be fun to see those two guys,” Hurley said. “The others are lighting it up, too. … It’s a great group.”

Castle and Ross are joined in UConn’s incoming recruiting class by 6-4 guard Solomon Ball (Brewster Academy), 6-7 wing Jaylin Stewart (Garfield High in Seattle) and 7-foot center Youssouf Singare (Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx).

Ball (33rd) and Stewart (58th) also are ranked in the top 60 while Youssouf is 120th and Ross 124th.

News and notes

• The Huskies have lost three of their last four games. All three losses came on the road against top three Big East teams in Xavier, Providence and Marquette.

“It’s hard to win on the road to begin with,” Hurley said. “It’s hard to win on the road versus those teams. Those teams are not likely to lose many games at home, if any. So, it’s not uncommon. … Those people have to come back and see us here.”

Big East co-leaders Xavier and Providence and third-place Marquette are a combined 29-2 at home, including 10-0 in league action.

• For UConn to remain in the hunt for the Big East regular season title, it may have to win its remaining home games. So far, the Huskies are a combined 10-0 at the XL Center and Gampel.

“We need the XL Center on Sunday to be the type of atmosphere that we’ve had to play in and that has been really helpful to our opponents,” Hurley said. “We need the great crowd that’s behind us and involved in the game from the start like we’ve faced.”

g.keefe@theday.com