STORRS --- UConn men’s basketball overcame another tough contest on a snowy Tuesday night at Gampel Pavilion, defeating Providence 87-81 for its 16th straight victory.
The bench stepped up big time for the Huskies, with Eric Reibe and Malachi Smith at the forefront. Smith hit a season high four threes and added seven assists in 29 minutes, while Reibe had 14 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field. Tarris Reed Jr. managed 19 points in just 19 minutes due to foul trouble, while an ailing Solo Ball added 17 and Silas Demary Jr. scored 15.
UConn (20-1, 10-0) barely trailed as the game’s four lead changes all occurred in the first seven minutes. But the Friars kept it close to the end.
Providence (9-12, 2-8) has now lost six of its last seven and eight of its last 10. Kim English’s squad blew a 21-point lead at home to Georgetown in their previous outing after an overtime loss to Marquette two games ago.
Early on, the Huskies attacked the rim and got to the free-throw line, taking six by the first media timeout. But Reed started 1-4 from the stripe as the Friars held an early 9-8 advantage.
Providence extended its lead up to five before Ball hit a trio of free throws after being fouled behind the arc. The Huskies took the lead a few plays later when Smith buried his first three of 2026 to make it 14-13.
Smith connected again from deep after a Reed three-point play, and Alex Karaban followed suit on a great set that ended up with a wide-open shot in the corner. The back-to-back triples gave UConn a 23-17 lead going into the U-12 timeout.
The three-point barrage continued as Silas Demary Jr. got on the board with a triple at the top of the key. But PC wouldn’t go away easily, though. The Friars mounted a 9-0 run to trim a 10-point game down to just one before another Reed bucket stopped the bleeding. He got his second foul with five minutes left in the first half.
The struggles continued as UConn went three minutes at the end of the first half without a field goal, but held on to a 41-37 lead at the break.
Demary connected with Reibe for UConn’s first two field goals of the second half for UConn. With the Friars pushing again, back-to-back threes from Demary pushed it to 53-46 and triggered an English timeout.
Another uncontested bucket from Reibe and Smith’s third three of the day fueled the Huskies’ lead to 58-51. Karaban grabbed an offensive rebound and sent it to Smith for his third triple.
The Friars stayed afloat, cutting it to just two at 65-63 after a pair of tough baskets, and got it down to one after splitting a pair at the line with 8:18 to play. Ball responded with a mid-range jumper right before the U-8 media timeout with the Huskies leading 67-64.
A Providence bucket cut it back to one, but a 7-0 UConn run pushed it back to eight after Reed finished inside. The Huskies were granted that possession after Dan Hurley successfully challenged an out-of-bounds call that originally favored the Friars.
Even with the momentum-changing spurt, Providence still had it at a three-point game at the U-4 at 74-71 with the Huskies missing foul shots late. The two sides traded twos before Karaban set up Reed for an easy finish.
On the next trip, Demary picked up a steal and was fouled in transition on a call that was upgraded to a Flagrant 1. Demary missed both free throws, but Reed picked him up and split a pair before getting a steal that turned into an open slam to push it to 81-73 with right around a minute to go.
The Huskies weren’t perfect at the line in the final minute, but Demary iced it with a pair with 9.9 to play as UConn escaped with an 87-81 win.
Despite a 3-14 mark from the field, Karaban was productive in other ways, with nine rebounds and seven assists. The Huskies went 11-24 from three in the win. Shooting, rebounding and turnovers were even for both sides.
Next up, UConn makes its longest road trek of the conference season with a trip to Omaha to take on Creighton on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST from the CHI Health Center and will be televised on FOX.
Led by Greg McDermott, the Bluejays entered Tuesday 6-3 in conference play and 12-8 overall, firmly establishing themselves as a Top 4 team in the league after a shaky non-con. They’re ranked 53rd in KenPom overall efficiency (49th Offense, 89th Defense).
Box Score
Team Stats
Win Probability
