STORRS — UConn men’s basketball fought a spirited East Texas A&M team at Gampel Pavilion on Friday night, taking a double-digit lead into halftime before making it a rout in the second half, winning 83-59 in a balanced team scoring effort.
The Huskies started slowly, with the game tied 6-6 at the first TV time-out before they pulled away. A 9-0 run in the middle of the half began to build the buffer, as turnovers and stingy defense started making the difference.
Though it got as big as 14 points in the first 20 minutes, UConn took a healthy 38-27 lead into halftime as Malachi Smith gave them a spark off the bench and every starter was on the board with at least four points. The visitors stayed in the game thanks to some great shotmaking, as their looks were not so great throughout the night.
The Huskies finished with four players in double digits and four guys with 6+ points each, led by 14 from Solo Ball, 13 from Eric Reibe, and 12 from Alex Karaban. They were getting whatever look they wanted offensively, especially in the paint, and controlled the glass as well. Ball and Reibe both had big second halves.
By the middle of the second half, the lead grew larger than 20 as Braylon Mullins activated after a quiet start, scoring all 10 of his points in the final frame. Jaylin Stewart started with Tarris Reed Jr. out due to injury, scoring seven of his nine points in the first half, while Mullins played 16 minutes in his third game back from injury.
Next up, the Huskies are in Madison Square Garden to take on Florida on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN. The Gators are ranked No. 15 in the country, sitting at 5-3 and 12th in KenPom overall efficiency (27th Offense, 9th Defense).
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