STORRS — UConn men’s basketball dropped a close one against No. 4 Arizona at Gampel Pavilion, 71-67, in a game where the Huskies were playing without Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed Jr. as they were outrebounded badly on the evening.
UConn (4-1) was cold early, starting 1-7 from the field. A three-point play from Eric Reibe and Solo Ball getting fouled on a three kept them in the game through that rough beginning. A scoreless Alex Karaban got his second foul with 11:55 left in the first half to further test UConn’s depth.
Ball scored seven in a row for the Huskies before a five-point Jaylin Stewart run briefly put UConn ahead, 20-19. Those two and Reibe helped their team stay in the mix despite foul trouble for Karaban and Silas Demary Jr., who got his second foul with 4:27 left.
Stewart’s second three tied the game at 29 as the visitors went into the break up 35-33. After controlling the lead through most of the first half, the Wildcats opened up a bigger lead to start the second half, up by as much as 13 points with 13:34 left.
UConn mounted a mini-run to get back in the game as Reibe came to life, hitting his first two threes of the season before Malachi Smith hit a jumper to put UConn ahead 64-62 with 2:16 left.
Arizona (5-0) hit a free throw on its next possession to make it 64-63, and then a second-chance bucket by Motiejus Krivas put them ahead 65-64. After a Demary turnover, a lay-up by Jaden Bradley put them up 67-64 with 13 seconds left as Bradley finished with a game-high 21 points.
Down three with a chance, Reibe was fouled on a shot but missed both free throws. The Wildcats hit two free throws to put the game out of reach, even though Demary hit a late three to keep it tight til the final buzzer.
Next up, the Huskies host Bryant in Hartford. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. on TruTV from PeoplesBank Arena.
The Bulldogs are one of the worst teams in the country, ranked 326th in KenPom. After that, UConn faces Illinois at MSG and Kansas on the road in consecutive games before returning home in December and then playing Florida in another MSG showcase.
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