BOSTON – UConn men’s basketball nearly led from start to finish in a dominant 85-77 victory over No. 16 Michigan in Boston’s TD Garden. They got a combined 44 points from their starting guards as they improved to 2-0 on the season.
The Huskies allowed a quick bucket off the tip, but they didn’t trail again as Braylon Mullins hit a three in response. Mullins hit his second three to make it 10-7 at the U16, before a Silas Demary Jr. three made it 13-7 and Mullins’ third three of the first half made it 18-12. Another Demary Jr. three made it 23-16.
Foul trouble gummed up the Huskies’ first half, as Na’jai Hines, Nik Khamenia, and Jayden Ross were all sitting with two fouls by the middle of the period. UConn still managed to keep its buffer, as Demary Jr. made play after play on his way to 17 first-half points. An Oskar Giltay dunk and a Colben Landrew three made it 43-30 at halftime, the largest lead of the day to that point.
The Huskies pushed it further out of the break. Jayden Ross hit a three, and then Mullins completed a three-point play before another Ross three made it 52-34. The fouls kept piling up, though, as Landrew and Giltay had four each early in the second half.
But the Huskies prevailed anyway. Michigan cut the deficit down to nine, but a Na’jai Hines putback dunk pushed it to 11, and a Khamenia three pushed it back to 14. Mullins was scoring in a lot of different ways, finishing with 15 second-half points to end with a team-high 23.
The Huskies closed the game out with solid free-throw shooting and continued defensive pressure despite the foul trouble. Demary Jr. finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Landrew added 14 with eight rebounds. Hines, Ross, and Khamenia scored seven points each.
Next up, the Huskies host Wagner on Monday, Nov. 9th at Gampel Pavilion. The first-ever game at the newly renovated and sponsored arena tips off at 7 p.m. on TruTV. Dan Hurley was the Seahawks’ head coach from 2010-2012.
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