UConn men’s basketball remains undefeated in the Big East after the No.2-ranked Huskies took down Providence Tuesday night at Gampel Pavilion. UConn (20-1, 10-0 Big East), could never put the Friars away for good, but did enough to keep them at arm’s length for an 87-81 victory and the Huskies’ 16th-straight win.
Dan Hurley and UConn were without star freshman Braylon Mullins, who suffered a concussion late in the second half against Villanova on Saturday and was ruled out for Tuesday’s matchup. Jaylin
Stewart got the start in Mullins’ absence but was largely ineffective, scoring two points in just 11 minutes.
Providence (9-12, 2-8 Big East) led by as much as five in the early minutes, jumping out to 13-8 lead on the back of an 8-0 run spurred by freshman Stefan Vaaks and senior Jaylin Sellers. UConn would punch back with three free throws from Solo Ball and 3-pointer from Malachi Smith — his first in six games — to take a one-point lead. After two free throws from Vaaks, Tarris Reed Jr. answered with an old-fashioned 3-point play to put UConn up 17-15 and take the lead for good.
The Huskies would stretch the lead to as much as 10 in the first half, with Smith connecting from deep and Reed scoring seemingly at will against an occasionally half-hearted Friars zone. Smith and Alex Karaban each added two 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, while Reed had 10 first half points.
With both Reed and Providence big man Oswin Erhunmwunse facing first half foul trouble, freshman center Eric Reibe did damage against PC backups Peteris Pinnis and Duncan Powell, adding six points and six rebounds in 11 first-half minutes.
Despite the success on the offensive end, Providence wouldn’t go away. The Friars ripped off a 9-0 run after trailing 29-19 to pull within one with seven minutes left in the half, and while UConn once again stretched the lead back out to as much as seven, the Friars headed into halftime down four, trailing 41-37.
PC quickly tied things up with a bucket from Jamier Jones and two free throws from Sellers, but the Huskies answered to prevent fully giving up the lead. After a three from Vaaks had PC down one with 16 minutes left to play, Silas Demary Jr. drilled threes on back-to-back possessions to put UConn up 53-46. A few possessions later, it was Smith’s turn, as the Dayton transfer capped a perfect 4-4 day from beyond the arc with two threes in a row to make it 61-54 UConn with just over 12 minutes to play.
Even with the Huskies shooting it well from deep — UConn shot 45.8 percent from three on the night — the Friars continued to keep things interesting. Providence cut the lead back down to just one after a pair of free throws from Jones, but the Huskies hunkered down and leaned on its stars to pull away. Karaban, Ball and Reed teamed up for a 7-0 run to make it 74-66 UConn with 4:38 to play.
Jones did everything in his power to keep PC in the mix, scoring 13 of his game-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes. The freshman was routinely able to get by Alex Karaban 1-on-1 for quality looks around the rim, and took the senior off the dribble for an emphatic dunk in traffic to pull the Friars within three with with 3:28 to play.
Ball answered with a midrange jumper, and while Jones responded with another score, UConn’s offense eventually wore the Friars down. Reed scored a layup and was fouled off a nice back cut, then stole the ball and hammered home a breakaway dunk to seal the season sweep over the Friars.
Jones led all scorers with 20 points, and was joined by Sellers (18 points), Erhunmwunse (14) and Vaaks (12) in double figures for the Friars. Reed led all Huskies with 19 points and added six rebounds and four blocks, while Reibe was a perfect 6-6 from the floor for 12 points with eight boards in 21 minutes. Demary Jr. and Smith both hit double-digit points with 15 and 12 respectively, and combined for 13 assists and zero turnovers.
After seemingly turning a corner against Villanova, Ball struggled against the Friars, scoring 17 points but doing so on 5-18 shooting (2-10 from three). The junior continues to play through an injury on his left shooting wrist and had a team-high four turnovers.
Despite never truly pulling away from Providence, the Huskies took advantage of the Friars’ foul trouble and shotty zone defense to come away with the season sweep without one of their top offensive weapons. Up next, UConn will head to Creighton to take on the Bluejays in Omaha on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. ET with FOX set to broadcast the game.
