PHILADELPHIA – No. 2 seed UConn men’s basketball held off a competitive effort from 15-seeded Furman, 82-71, on Friday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena thanks to a historic 31 points and 27 rebounds from Tarris Reed Jr.
Two hours before tip-off, UConn announced that Silas Demary Jr. would be unavailable due to an ankle injury, missing his first game of the season. Malachi Smith got the start as a result. Jaylin Stewart also missed his seventh straight game while battling a knee injury.
Down a couple of bodies, Reed stepped up for one of the better performances in an NCAA Tournament game, not just in program history, but ever in college basketball. He grabbed 11 offensive boards and only missed three shots from the field.
UConn (30-5) didn’t pull away for good until the very end. Alex Karaban finished with 22 points while Braylon Mullins added 12, with 10 of those coming in the first half, to take care of business against the feisty Paladins.
Furman (22-13) got 15 points from its leading scorer, Alex Wilkins, in the first half, as he finished with 21. But the Huskies held him scoreless for the first 13 minutes of the second half and led by at least four throughout that final frame.
UConn jumped out to a fast start, with Reed’s domination beginning early. The big man had five points and eight rebounds by the first media timeout, as the Huskies held a 14-10 lead. Wilkins had eight points for Furman by this point, showing off his range with a deep triple that impressed the crowd.
The Paladins continued to keep pace, using another Wilkins three and a Cooper Bowser slam to get within one by the next timeout. Alec Millender responded with a big bucket in transition, but another finish from Wilkins and a pair of free throws from Charles Johnston put Furman ahead 19-18 with 10 minutes left in the half.
UConn answered quickly after going down, getting six straight points from Reed in less than a minute to take a 24-19 lead. The Huskies did not trail again.
By the under-8 timeout, Reed already had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Both sides continued to trade blows, whether it was Reed in the post, Mullins in the mid-range, or Furman’s Tom House from beyond the arc. The Paladins proved that they would not be dispatched easily.
With the Huskies up 35-33 and just under three minutes left in the first half, they used a 5-0 burst to push the lead to seven, and Hurley called a timeout with 14 seconds remaining.
Holding the ball, Mullins opted to take a quick three that missed, allowing Johnston to knock down a buzzer-beater trey in transition to make it 40-36 at the half.
Despite Mullins’ solid start, he was 0-7 from three, continuing his recent struggles from deep. The team shot 1-14 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, finishing the night at 5-of-25 (20%).
UConn had a fast start to the second half, particularly from distance. Both Ball and Karaban knocked down threes, and AK added a pair of layups, all in less than three minutes, to get the lead to double digits for the first time at 50-40 and force a Furman timeout.
Reed kept rolling, getting up to 23 and 17 by the under-16 media timeout, one shy of a career high in each category. He set his career best a few minutes later with a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 58-50. After a pair of Bowser foul shots, Karaban came down and knocked down his second three to make it 61-52.
Furman still didn’t go away. House and Wilkins each knocked down big triples to get the UConn lead back down to just five at 69-64 with 6:25 to play. Malachi Smith split some free throws, then Ben Vander Wal split a pair to get it back to five at 70-65.
The Huskies made their final push to victory, as Reed finished an uncontested slam to push it back to seven. Following a defensive stop, Smith would split another, and Reed grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row before Karaban splashed the dagger three to make it 76-65.
Next up, the Huskies are set to face No. 7 seed UCLA in the Round of 32 in Philadelphia on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 8:45 p.m. from Xfinity Mobile Arena and will be televised on TNT. The 7-seeded Bruins defeated the 10-seed UCF, 75-71, in the earlier evening game on Friday.
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