Alex Karaban matched his season-high with 21 points as the UConn men’s basketball team overcame a slow start without leading scorer Solo Ball to beat DePaul, 72-54, in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena Sunday night.
The fifth-ranked Huskies improved to 12-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Big East as they head into a short holiday break.
It was UConn’s 21st-consecutive victory in the all-time series against DePaul (8-5, 0-2 Big East).
Tarris Reed Jr. formed a strong frontcourt tandem with Karaban as he recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, along with four assists and three blocked shots. And point guard Silas Demary Jr. threatened a second triple-double as he finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. The Huskies finished the game with a 40-28 advantage on the glass.
Ball missed the game with a minor injury to his left wrist, which occurred as he braced himself on a hard fall during Tuesday’s career-high 26-point performance in a win over Butler.
The start was as sloppy as it gets. There were a combined 15 turnovers over the first 10 minutes and UConn fell behind, 15-7, after missing 13 of its first 16 shots from the field.
But Reed, battling inside, got the Huskies’ offense going with a strong finish through contact under the basket. Active on the offensive glass, Demary tipped a pass to Jaylin Stewart (six points, three rebounds) for a dunk and capitalized on an open look from 3-point range before giving the Huskies a lead from the free throw line to complete a 9-0 scoring run.
Karaban steadied UConn’s offense with 10 points in the first half on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including a 3-pointer in the final two minutes to create some separation on the scoreboard. But DePaul, scoring 16 points off nine UConn turnovers, cut its halftime deficit to just three with a tough last-second floater from Layden Blocker (11 points, three assists).
The Huskies’ captain continued his momentum into the second half, making two more shots, including a third 3-pointer, before his first miss, which was blocked into the hands of Stewart for a smooth reverse layup.
UConn pulled away on the back of its defense, building a 17-point lead with a second-chance layup from Reed around the eight-minute mark.
DePaul shot just 31% from the field in the second half and finished the game just 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Still looking for the “killer instinct” coach Dan Hurley has been begging for, the Huskies’ lead was trimmed to 10 until Reed hit a mid-range shot off the glass and Braylon Mullins (eight points) sealed the victory with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, making it an 18-point game with a minute and a half to play.
UConn will return to action on New Year’s Eve in Cincinnati for a matchup with Xavier and coach Richard Pitino.