UConn men’s basketball took care of business once again at home as the Huskies took down Columbia 89-62 Monday night at Gampel Pavilion. While it wasn’t the ultra-dominant performance UConn had Friday
night against UMass Lowell, the Huskies used two big first half runs to pull away and cruise to its third win of the season.
Columbia hung around a bit to start, and even led 6-2 early on a 3-pointer from Zine Eddine Bedri, but UConn took the lead thanks to seven-straight points from Alex Karaban and never looked back. After another bucket from Eddine Bedri made it a one-point game with 12:39 to play, the Huskies rattled off a 14-0 killshot to pull away for good.
Malachi Smith opened up the run with a 3-pointer, and Jayden Ross did the same on the ensuing possession. After a Tarris Reed Jr. layup and a free throw and another 3-pointer from Ross, UConn’s run grew to 12 before a Silas Demary Jr. floater made it 28-13 Huskies with 6:30 left in the opening frame.
Smith and Ross didn’t start Monday night, but both brought considerable energy off the bench. The two used their speed to kickstart the fast break and pressure the Columbia backcourt on the defensive end. Ross scored all 10 of his points in the first half, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts. He also added two rebounds and two blocks on the night before fouling out late in the second half.
Ross’ final 3-pointer of the night came as part of another first half killshot. Karaban and Solo Ball each hit threes to make it a 9-0 run with under five minutes in the first, and Karaban made it an 11-0 run with an emphatic steal and dunk to put the Huskies up 41-17.
UConn would go on to take a 50-27 lead into halftime after a fairly dominant 20 minutes., but that dominance didn’t immediately transfer over in the second half. While Columbia was never really close to making things interesting, the Lions did use a 9-2 to close the lead to 20 points halfway through the period.
“We didn’t play a full 40 minute game. We had a stretch where we didn’t play well for eight-straight minutes,” Head coach Dan Hurley said. “You can’t play poorly in the stretch of the schedule that we’re getting into for 3-4 possessions or else it will get away from you.”
To firmly pull away, the Huskies leaned on its talent and size to make sure things never got too dangerous. Demary Jr. answered the run with an easy blow-by layup, and Reed and Ball came through consistently to keep the Lions at bay. Demary Jr. finished the night with five points, six rebounds and a career-high nine assists. While the Georgia transfer hasn’t lit it up as a scorer, he’s entrenched himself as a key cog in the starting lineup with his perimeter defense and passing abilities.
“That was a Tristen type of game,” Hurley said of Demary Jr’s stat line. “That is what we brought him in to do.”
Reed was once again dominant in his second game of the season, posting 19 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Hurley told reporters postgame that the Michigan transfer is no longer on a minutes restriction after rehabbing from this hamstring injury, and should be fully good to go Saturday against BYU.
UConn eventually snapped out of the slight second half funk, stretching out the lead to 29 points, the largest of the night, on a late 3-pointer from Ball before cruising to the 27-point win. The Huskies held Columbia to just 0.93 points per possession on the night, the second-straight game where UConn held their opponent to under a point per possession.
Aside from Reed and Ross, Ball and Karaban were the only other Huskies in double figures. Ball scored a game-high 23 points and added two steals, while Karaban had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Ball and Karaban combined to shoot 5-14 from the 3-point line as the Huskies shot 10-23 (43.5 percent) from deep as a team. Miles Franklin and Blair Thompson led the way for Columbia with 10 points each.
Up next, the Huskies ship up to Boston to take on AJ Dybansta and No. 7 BYU. The game will be broadcast on FOX, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m.
