Silas Demary Jr. made history for UConn men’s basketball as the Huskies’ (5-1) cruised to a comfortable 72-49 victory over Bryant. With a 10-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, Demary Jr. became just the fifth Husky in program history to record a triple-double. Demary Jr. joins Tristen Newton (4), Daniel Hamilton, Shabazz Napier and Kemba Walker as the only UConn players to accomplish the feat.
With Tarris Reed out once again due to an ankle injury, Eric Reibe joined Demary Jr. in the Huskies’
starting lineup for a second-second straight game and built on an impressive performance earlier in the week against No. 4 Arizona. Reibe scored twice in the first seven minutes, with his second basket giving UConn a 13-5 lead as part of a 7-0. From there on out, there was no looking back, as the Huskies put the clamps on a struggling Bryant offense that only averaged 0.75 points per possession on the night.
UConn never rattled off a kill shot in the first half but strung together runs of nine, seven and seven points to pull away from the Bulldogs. The Huskies took a 37-21 lead into halftime after the first 20 minutes.
UConn continued to pull away in the second half, dominating Bryant on the boards and defensively to further extend the lead. Despite the Bulldogs being the tallest team in the nation, Jamion Christian’s squad had no answer for Reibe, who scored 16 points and added six rebounds, both of which are career-highs. Reibe also added three offensive rebounds on the night, the most the freshman has had in a game so far in his young career.
With the game firmly in hand as UConn firmly maintained a roughly 20-point lead for the majority of the second half, the focus quickly shifted to Demary Jr.’s quest for a triple-double. The Georgia transfer notched his 10th rebound on an attempted putback off a Reibe miss but was fouled in the process. He scored his ninth and 10 points on the ensuing free throws, and then found Reibe two possessions later for a layup to complete the triple-double. Demary Jr. added four steals to his 10-point, 10-assist and 10-rebound stat line, and joined Reibe’s game-high 16 points as the only Huskies in double figures.
After Arizona dominated UConn on the glass Wednesday night, the Huskies bounced back with solid rebounding performance against a Bryant team with significant size. UConn out-rebounded the Bulldogs 42 to 27, and had 18 offensive boards to Bryant’s five. Demary Jr. led the Huskies with 10 boards, while Alex Karaban added seven.
All in all, it was a comfortable win for the Huskies despite an off shooting night from deep. UConn was just 5-25 from the 3-point line on the night, but still averaged 1.11 points per possession on offense. Karaban scored five points on the night, while Solo Ball, Jayden Ross and Dwayne Koroma each had eight. Freshman Jacob Furphy saw his first collegiate action in the first half after missing time due to an ankle injury and scored his first career points in game’s final minutes. He finished with two points and one steal in seven minutes. Freshman Timofei Rudovskii led Bryant in scoring with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
Up next, UConn has a few days off for Thanksgiving before a showdown with No. 8 Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Black Friday. Tip off is set for 12:30 p.m. ET, with FOX set to broadcast the game.
