UConn men’s basketball remains undefeated in league play after defeating Georgetown, 64-62, to pick up its 14th consecutive win.
Tarris Reed Jr. starred for the Huskies (18-1, 8-0), scoring a team high 15 points with 11 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks as he got off to a great start. Silas Demary Jr., Braylon Mullins, and Solo Ball finished in double figures as well.
UConn led by nine after the first five minutes, and by as much as 10, but saw the lead dwindle towards the end of the half after Demary sat with his second foul. Georgetown briefly took the lead back early in the second half.
The Hoyas (9-9, 1-6) came into the day losers of five straight games after a promising start to the season in non-conference play. They had been playing competitively, however, as they did in this one.
Reed dominated the post from the opening tip, and the Huskies went his way early often. He scored 11 of the Huskies’ first 13 points, including a three-point play on a tough finish inside.
That bucket and free throw from Reed would be the final UConn basket for roughly three minutes before Solo Ball ended the skid with a layup. Jaylin Stewart and Ball would broke the seal from three with triples on the next two possessions to increase the Husky lead to 21-13.
Jayden Ross connected on a turnaround mid-range jumper after the stoppage to push the lead to double digits for the first time, but it would be over two minutes before they scored again when Malachi Smith found Eric Reibe for a lob finish. The bench gave some solid production in the first half.
The defense for the Huskies was up to par in the first half too, forcing 10 turnovers and limiting good looks. Georgetown still shot 48% from the field in the first half on just 23 shot attempts and finished at 43%. The Hoyas had a stretch where they connected on 7 of 8 from the field, taking what was a 10-point game down to just four at halftime, 32-28.
UConn only hit two field goals in the final seven minutes, both from Braylon Mullins, and ended the half 1 for its last 10 shooting the basketball. The Huskies were taking quality shots, but just weren't converting. They were 5-12 on layups and had some open threes that rattled in and out.
The second half started out in nightmare fashion for the Huskies. Georgetown scored seven quick points, prompting a timeout from Dan Hurley with his team trailing 35-32. Combining the end of the first and beginning of the second, the Hoyas went on a 12-0 run to take the lead.
Demary ended the near seven minute drought by knocking down two of three free throws after getting fouled beyond the arc. He also scored the first field goal of the half on a floater off the glass in the lane. That basket would be the first of five straight trips with field goals for the Huskies, capped off by a wide-open three from Mullins after a wild sequence with bodies all over the floor.
The Hoyas would tie the game again at 45 around the nine-minute mark, but a pair of Mullins free throws and a fastbreak slam from Ball got the lead back to four, eventually two with 7:22 to play at 49-47.
Both sides were continuing to trade baskets before Karaban connected on his first three of the night to push the lead back to five at 58-53. The score stayed there heading into the final media timeout, right before which Reed clinched his double-double with a defensive rebound.
After nearly three more minutes without anyone scoring, Demary scored in the lane to push the lead up to seven. The Hoyas answered with a basket, but Ball responded with a floater in the lane as the shot clock expired to make it 62-55 with 58 seconds remaining.
Malik Mack hit a three for Georgetown to cut it to four with 46 seconds. Demary split a pair at the foul line to push it back to five. The Hoyas scored quickly with a transition dunk before Ball was sent to the line in a three-point game. Ball missed both free throws, giving Georgetown a chance with around 20 seconds to play down by three.
KJ Lewis airballed a three, and Mullins grabbed the board, also splitting a pair at the line to make it a four-point game with nine seconds left. The Hoyas converted a putback dunk with 1.9 seconds left, but Demary passed out of a trap to let the clock expire with a two-point win for the visitors.
The Huskies started the game shooting 15-16 from the free throw line, but went 2 for their last 8 afterwards with Demary, Karaban, Ball, and Mullins all accounting for those misses. All four of them came into the day shooting over 80% from the stripe, so it was a bit surprising to see some inconsistencies down the stretch that kept things close.
Three-point shooting wasn’t great for the second straight game either. UConn shot 5-19 from beyond the arc, totaling 8-36 in its past two games. Mullins, Karaban and Ball combined to go just 3-19 from three.
Next up, UConn gets a week off before returning to action at home against Villanova on Saturday.
Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m. from PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford and will be televised on FOX. The Huskies split the regular season series with the Wildcats last year, but UConn got the last laugh with a win in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals in March.
Led by Kevin Willard, in his first season at the helm, the Wildcats entered Saturday at 5-1 in conference play and 14-3 overall. They’re ranked 26th in KenPom overall efficiency (21st Offense, 40th Defense).
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