UConn men’s basketball closed out its non conference slate with one last win Friday night, as the Huskies dug deep to grind out a 71-63 win over Texas. It may not have been UConn’s prettiest win of a tough non conference schedule, but the Huskies did everything they needed to do to keep the Longhorns from making it interesting. UConn led for over 37 of the game’s 40 minutes, and Texas only got within as few as five points for less than a minute in the second before the Huskies put the game to an emphatic
end to finish the toughest non conference schedule in program history with 10 wins and just one loss.
After four-straight Texas free throws, the Longhorns cut UConn’s lead to just five with 4:30 left to play in the second half. Texas forced the Huskies’ offense to work deep into the shot clock, and Alex Karaban fired off an errant pass to Solo Ball, who caught the ball near the PeoplesBank Arena logo. With just seconds left on the shot clock, Ball collected the pass, hoisted up a shot and connected from way downtown. The three was UConn’s first of the second half and gave the Huskies an eight-point lead.
But UConn wasn’t done. Tarris Reed Jr. swatted Simeon Wilcher’s layup on the ensuing possession and got the ball to Malachi Smith, who quickly pushed the ball up the court. Smith then found an open and eager Karaban with a cross-court pass, and the redshirt senior delivered with a dagger of a 3-pointer. Karaban’s three made it six points in 13 seconds, and gave the Huskies a 67-56 lead with 3:23 to play, squashing any shot of a Longhorns comeback.
While the Huskies and Texas traded baskets to start, Braylon Mullins gave UConn the lead for good with a deep three less than three minutes in to go up 9-7. Reed would find Mullins on the team’s next possession, and the freshman converted a tough turnaround jumper to continue growing the lead. A dunk from Ball on UConn’s next time off a nice cut to the hoop made it 13-6 Huskies.
Reed would pace UConn in the game’s first 20 minutes, scoring eight points and adding a career-high five assists and three rebounds. As Texas looked to double-team Reed when the he touched the ball on the low block, the Michigan transfer routinely made the smart pass to find open cutters and shooters for easy baskets. Karaban contributed 11 of his game-high 18 in the first half, and Mullins added eight points before finishing the night with 10.
In his first game at PeoplesBank Arena, Mullins showcased what made him one of the most heralded prospects of the 2025 class. The former Indiana Mr. Basketball made his first collegiate start Friday night, and hit a handful of tough shots to keep the offense humming along. It wasn’t all just scoring from Mullins though, as the freshman made a heady play off a long rebound, tipping the ball in one motion to an open Karaban down low for an easy rebound and assist.
Mullins would only see nine minutes of action in the second half, as head coach Dan Hurley elected to use Jaylin Stewart more with the game being somewhat tight. Stewart finished the night with 10 points in 18 minutes, 10 of which came in the second half, in his first game off the bench this season.
Despite shooting poorly from deep in the second half — the Huskies were just 2-9 from three in the final 20 minutes — UConn always had an answer when Texas seemed to be making things interesting. After the Longhorns rattled off five-straight points early in the half, the Huskies immediate answered with a dunk from Reed to stop the bleeding. When UT rattled off a 6-0 run midway through the second, Malachi Smith came up with a tough layup in traffic. And when Texas made its last push late, Ball and Karaban connected from deep to officially put Sean Miller and Texas to bed.
Smith once again excelled as Silas Demary Jr. struggled, with Smith posting his second-straight nine-assist game. The Dayton transfer scored just four points, but his two buckets were big ones, with his aforementioned layup and a stepback jumper with 90 seconds left to make it a three-possession game for good. Demary Jr. did add five assists on the night, but also had five turnovers and only two points in just 19 minutes as the Georgia transfer dealt with foul trouble all game.
Reed finished the night with 12 points and six rebounds to go with his five assists, joining Karaban, Mullins and Stewart in double figures. Ball just missed double digits with nine points, while Eric Reibe had four in 10 minutes. Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark led the Longhorns with 15 points apiece, and 7-footer Matas Vokietaitis was largely kept in check, scoring nine points and adding five boards.
With the non conference schedule in the rearview mirror, it’s hard to be anything but impressed with the Huskies, who stand at 10-1 with four Quad One wins. UConn’s only loss so far came at the hands of the current No. 1 team in the country in Arizona, and took down the Huskies without the likes of Reed and Mullins, two of team’s top players.
As Big East play begins next week, UConn will have little room for error with the volatility and general ineptitude of the rest of the conference. The Huskies, picked as the No. 2 team in the Big East behind St. John’s in the preseason coaches’ poll, now enter conference play as the top team in the conference and legitimate national title contenders, but will have to avoid losses like last year’s shocking loss at Seton Hall, which tanked UConn’s chances of improving its NCAA tournament seeding.
The Huskies begin Big East play Tuesday night with Butler as the Bulldogs come to PeoplesBank Arena. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m., with the game set to be broadcast on NBC Sports and Peacock.
