HARTFORD – UConn shook off Wednesday night’s disappointment to trounce Bryant, 72-49, leading the game from beginning to end. Eric Reibe scored 16 points to lead all scorers, while Silas Demary Jr. notched a triple-double and four other Huskies had seven or more points.
The Huskies (5-1) are 20-0 in their last 20 games in PeoplesBank Arena. Tarris Reed Jr. sat once again, as did Braylon Mullins, while Jacob Furphy made his season debut after an early injury and hit his first career basket.
Jaylin Stewart knocked down a corner three-pointer to start the game and, though Bryant fought hard in the early minutes, UConn was up 15-5 in the middle of the first half. A 14-2 run pushed the lead to 20 as the Bulldogs began turning it over a lot; they finished with 21 giveaways on the night.
UConn was getting good looks mostly, but they weren’t falling. Solo Ball and Alex Karaban finished with just one three-pointer each. The heightened defensive pressure and solid work from depth guys like Stewart, Jayden Ross, and Malachi Smith allowed UConn to go into halftime ahead, 37-21.
The Husky offense came out in the second half much more aggressively, securing second-chance points off the glass and attacking the paint. Bryant was unable to keep up as the Huskies maintained a buffer at or near 20 points through the end. They also finished with a 42-27 rebounding advantage after a nearly even first half.
The Huskies kept forcing turnovers and limited the Bulldogs to 27 percent shooting from the field and just 7-23 (30%) from behind the arc. UConn finished just 5-of-25 from deep but moved the ball well, with 17 assists on 25 field goals, and got a balanced effort across the squad, including Dwayne Koroma (8 points, 3 reb) and Reibe. The freshman scored 12 in the second half and has been a major bright spot with Reed out.
Next up, the Huskies are in Madison Square Garden to play No. 8 Illinois on Friday. The Fighting Illini are 5-1 on the season and ranked 7th in KenPom (6th Offense, 17th Defense), with a notable win over Texas Tech and a loss to Alabama last week.
The contest tips off at 12:30 on FOX from New York City. It will be the Huskies’ third top-10 opponent in their seventh game of the season.
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