HARTFORD – The No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team rolled to a routine, 72-60, victory over DePaul at PeoplesBank Arena on Saturday.
It was the 12th-consecutive win for the Huskies, now 16-1 on the year and 6-1 in Big East play.
Freshman Braylon Mullins starred again for a game-high 16 points with seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals while point guard Silas Demary Jr. continued to look comfortable with 14 points on seven shots with three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Alex Karaban made three Huskies in double figures as he finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals.
After hitting a program-record 18 3-pointers in Wednesday’s overtime thriller at Providence, UConn didn’t need such an effort with its defense returning to form. The Huskies made 12 steals and forced 15 turnovers as they held the Blue Demons to 47% shooting from the field and 4-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Much like the first matchup against DePaul in Chicago, a 72-54 UConn win in December, turnovers kept the Huskies from operating their most efficient offense early on. And after holding the Blue Demons to just three makes on their first 15 attempts from the field on Saturday, the double-figure lead started to evaporate.
NJ Benson #35 of the DePaul Blue Demons gets the rebound against Alex Karaban #11 of the Connecticut Huskies during the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on January 10, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Layden Blocker ripped the ball from Tarris Reed Jr. (eight points, five rebounds) in the post and finished a layup at the other end to make it a four-point game with just over four minutes to play, but Demary answered with a pair of tough layups and Mullins came up with a steal that resulted in a three-point play under the rim. UConn called a timeout ahead of the final possession of the half and Demary, who scored nine points in the final three minutes, missed his fadeaway midrange attempt with three seconds left before corralling his own offensive rebound behind the 3-point line and beating the buzzer to send the Huskies into the break up, 37-27.
UConn started the second half on a 13-5 run as Solo Ball got going, his first shot attempt of the game coming as an and-one layup at the 18:24 mark. The Huskies cleaned up some of their turnover problems after giving the ball away eight times in the first half and continued to disrupt the Blue Demons with a smooth operation on the defensive end.
The Huskies’ freshman duo of Eric Reibe and Mullins connected on a smooth bounce pass through the lane that led set up a Mullins floater and went on to combine for UConn’s next 10 points as the lead grew to 20.
Mullins hit his second 3-pointer of the game before coming up with a steal and assisting Ball for a transition layup, then taking away the ball again and hitting Karaban for a triple to go up 23 and take complete control with five minutes left.
Braylon Mullins #24 of the Connecticut Huskies against Layden Blocker #2 of the DePaul Blue Demons during the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on January 10, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
DePaul refused to quit and forced Dan Hurley to put his starters back in with 90 seconds left as the Blue Demons closed the game on an 11-1 run.
UConn shot 50% from the field (25-for-50) for the game and 6-for-15 from beyond the arc (40%).
The Huskies will look for their first road win at Seton Hall since the 2020-21 season when they make the trip to meet the surging Pirates in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday night.
