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UConn men’s basketball built up a big early lead and held on for an 86-84 win despite a frenzied comeback attempt by No. 7 BYU in Boston’s TD Garden Saturday night.
The Huskies (4-0) appeared to be cruising to a statement victory, but top-rated freshman AJ Dybantsa had other ideas. The Huskies led by as much as 20, but found their lead cut down to two with 20 seconds left after being up 16 with 7:46 remaining.
They held on by hitting just enough free throws and making some timely stops, but still nearly squandered an incredible shooting effort. BYU (3-1) was playing without Kennard Davis and lost Keba Keita to an injury in the first half. Dan Hurley’s squad was without Braylon Mullins, but everyone else was available.
Tarris Reed Jr. was the early engine. He scored UConn’s first bucket and seven of its first 12 points before the Huskies mounted a 14-2 run as they took advantage of Cougar turnovers, Silas Demary Jr.’s playmaking, and efficient shooting from Alex Karaban, who hit all four of his three-point attempts on the night and finished 8-of-11 from the field.
UConn led 43-32 at the half, and it could have been more if not for a last-second three to give BYU some life at the break. The Huskies were shooting over 60 percent from the field and over 50 percent from three at the peak of their lead in the middle of the second half.
Dybantsa scored 21 of his 25 points in the final 20 minutes, creating a lot of it on his own, including a three to cut the lead down to three with 30 seconds left. Demary hit two free throws to push it back up to five before a three-pointer from Dawson Baker cut it down to two with 20 seconds remaining.
Malachi Smith drew a quick foul to get to the line, but only hit one of two free throws, so the lead stayed at one possession, three points, until Robert Wright III lost his dribble with 12 seconds left and Demary picked it up, passing it to Solo Ball, who drew a foul to head to the line. Ball hit one of two to make it 86-82 and give UConn the final buffer it needed.
Karaban, Reed, and Demary finished 21 points each while Jayden Ross added 10 off the bench before fouling out. UConn hit just 18-of-27 free throws and notched 21 assists on 30 field goals, finishing 57 percent from the field.
Next up, the Huskies host Arizona at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. from Storrs on FS1.
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