UConn men’s basketball takes on Providence in Gampel Pavilion for the second meeting between these two teams this season. The Huskies won the first meeting in Providence, a 103-98 overtime battle in which they were down 11 points with three minutes left. It took an impressive effort to tie that game and wrest control of it in OT, but the Huskies prevailed.
Prevailing has been a theme for Dan Hurley’s squad despite some on-court struggles. They’ve won 15 in a row, including four straight since that scare at the AMP. But three of those games came down to the wire, and the Huskies had single-digit scoring performances from the bench in three of four, and rebounding continues to be an area where opponents are testing them.
Providence (9-11, 2-7 Big East) has lost four of five since playing UConn, beating a solid Creighton team while taking close losses to Xavier, Villanova, Marquette, and Georgetown. While it previously had an argument to be labeled a sneaky decent side, things are falling apart for Providence at the moment.
It’s still a competitive group. They hit half their field goals and 58 percent of their threes (14-24) in the first meeting and have the 26th-most efficient offense in the country thanks to their strong shooting. Their defense is bordering on atrocious, however, at 204th in efficiency.
Forwards Ryan Mela and Jamier Jones stood out in the first matchup, dropping 19 and 18 points, respectively, as four other Friars scored 11 or 12 points, including former Husky Corey Floyd Jr., who had his best scoring effort in a Big East game.
They went on a 21-4 run in the first half to take a commanding lead that the Huskies did not meaningfully cut into until a late 9-0 run keyed by an incredible two-way effort from Silas Demary Jr.
The Georgia transfer has been the keystone for UConn’s success on both ends of the court. Mullins has also been huge, scoring 24 points in the Providence win and hitting double digits in every game since then until he left the Villanova game early in the second half with eight points after a hit to the head. Solo Ball led the way with 24 points in that overtime win.
For UConn (19-1, 9-0 Big East), injury woes have prevented the team from reaching its ceiling all year. With Tarris Reed Jr. and Braylon Mullins missing time early, Jayden Ross on the mend, Solo Ball playing through a wrist injury, and Mullins now in concussion protocol, the squad has been a bit beat-up.
The Huskies are on their fifth single-season win streak of 15 or more games, having also done so in: 1995-96 (23), 1998-99 (19), 1964-65 (15), 1994-95 (15), 2022-23 (14), 2023-24 (14), and 1953-54 (14). Their 9-0 Big East mark is their best start to league play since the 1998-99 Huskies
opened 11-0. The 1995-96 Huskies have the top mark at 14-0.
Still, Hurley has made it clear he wants to see more consistent aggressiveness from Reed and more contributions outside of scoring from Ball, and has added that Demary Jr. needs to go into “fouling rehab” because they clearly can’t afford to have him in foul trouble.
On the bench, UConn needs more from Malachi Smith, Jaylin Stewart, and Ross. Hurley has said he wants to see more offensive assertiveness from Stewart, though the junior has mostly played well. Ross dealt with an injury that kept him out of the rotation; his defensive prowess was apparent in the Villanova game.
Smith has been off his game – he had his first scoreless outing of the season against Butler on Dec. 16 and has had three more since then, including the last two contests. He’s still facilitating decently well, but has seen a drop in minutes.
With Mullins likely to still be in concussion protocol, UConn will be leaning more on its reserves and will have a smaller margin for error for its stars. Ball, Alex Karaban, and Demary Jr. have been streaky, while Reed has had stretches where he’s failed to make an impact. Everyone needs to be more locked in without Mullins’ scoring threat.
Karaban shook off a scoreless first half, and first seven minutes of the second half, to finish with 17 points in the Villanova win. The senior is climbing up the program’s all-time leaderboard for scoring and career wins. He’s two points away from tying Jerome Dyson for 17th in scoring and four wins away from first in wins, which is currently held by Samson Johnson (114).
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. in Gampel Pavilion, and the game will be televised on TNT + TruTV. It will be the 84th all-time meeting between the two schools, with UConn currently holding a 52-31 lead in the series, having won the last seven.
