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HARTFORD — UConn men’s basketball wrapped up exhibition play by hosting Michigan State at the newly-renamed People’s Bank Arena. Dan Hurley’s squad came out on top, 76-69, though the game was hardly that close.
UConn jumped out to an 8-1 start thanks to two threes from Silas Demary Jr. and two early MSU turnovers. The buffer persisted as turnovers and misses continued to pile up for the visitors, who ended the first half with eight turnovers and just 7-of-20 made shots.
UConn’s perimeter defense had the Spartans settling for bad looks, and the low-post guys mostly held strong as well. MSU forward Coen Carter finished with just two rebounds. Eric Reibe and Dwayne Koroma sat in the first half with two fouls, leading to some time with the small ball lineup. Silas Demary and Malachi Smith had three fouls each at the break.
The Husky defense stayed steady, or maybe the Spartans didn’t have much firepower to test them, as the first half continued in much of the same fashion: fouls, a UConn run, a smaller Michigan State run, a UConn response. The Huskies led the entire way aside from the 0-0 tie to start the game.
Both teams went without a field goal for about three minutes near the end of the half; a layup by Solo Ball broke the streak before a three from Jayden Ross made it 36-23 at the U-4 time-out. UConn was up 44-33 at the break as Ross and Alex Karaban powered a late charge.
The second half followed a similar path, as the fouls kept coming for both sides. UConn got a little cold towards the end of the game, allowing MSU to cut the lead down to single digits, but the Huskies’ depth made sure the lead was never seriously threatened.
The game ended with 56 fouls and 74 free throws. The two teams agreed to allow six fouls per player at halftime. Though Koroma was the only one to foul out, three other Huskies ended with five fouls.
As in the first exhibition, Ball and Alex Karaban tied for the team scoring lead, with 18 points each. Ross was the Huskies’ third-leading scorer with 13 as the only other teammate in double digits. Reibe led the team with seven rebounds as the Huskies won the battle on the glass.
Demary cooled off after his two early threes, though he finished strong to end the night with nine points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, looking like a strong two-way player in his first live outing for the Huskies.
Next up, the Huskies’ season begins with the first regular-season game, tipping off at 7 p.m. from Gampel Pavilion against New Haven. It will be televised on UConn+.
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