NEW YORK – It hasn’t exactly been an easy situation to navigate for UConn guard Malachi Smith, who started in 77 of 86 career games at Dayton before he joined the program as a fifth-year graduate transfer.
Playing point guard for Dan Hurley – especially as a reserve – can be an unforgiving experience. All it takes is one mistake and a substitution is headed to the scorer’s table. If Hurley isn’t pleased with the energy out of the gate, the rest of the game could be spent on the bench. Smith played less than 10 minutes in eight of 20 regular-season games in Big East play. He saw five minutes on Senior Day against Seton Hall and only two in the regular-season finale at Marquette.
But he knew what he signed up for when he chose to spend his final season of college basketball with the Huskies, prioritizing winning over any personal glory. He knew Silas Demary Jr. – a first-team all-conference and first-team defender – had committed less than two weeks before Smith did and would likely be the starter.
Smith is mature enough to know how important his role is to the team reaching its ceiling. His teammates do, too, and have kept him from checking out.
“Me and Rondo (Alec Millender) after practice, shooting and working out, just giving him confidence, telling him we still believe in him; knowing that his time was coming,” Demary said from his locker at Madison Square Garden after UConn’s 93-68 win over Xavier in Thursday’s Big East Tournament quarterfinal. “(Thursday) he was able to showcase that and we needed him, and he did everything we needed him to do to keep the steam going in the first half, even when he came in in the second half he was still making plays. Just proud of him, proud of him not doubting himself.”
Smith provided 23 minutes – his most since Jan. 27 against Providence – and maintained a dominant level of play, especially in the first half after Demary picked up his second foul less than seven minutes in. He was a pest on defense, grabbed three rebounds and made two 3-pointers in addition to dolling out a pair of assists.
“I’m just trying to make sure I stay ready,” Smith said, a couple of lockers over. “In practices, trying to make sure I go as hard as I can, I’m still getting my shots up after, weight room, still doing what I do. Because I don’t know when I might play 18 minutes, might play 30, might play five. I just try to make sure when I come in, I make an impact. I don’t know what could happen, so I just gotta make sure I’m ready for every situation.”
A New York City kid from The Bronx, who has had some of his best games of the season at The Garden against Illinois and Florida, Smith scored six of the team’s 25 points off the bench. It was the most production the Huskies have gotten from their bench since Xavier visited Storrs on Feb. 3, when Smith was scoreless in 15 minutes but Eric Reibe scored 14 with seven rebounds, Jayden Ross went for 11 points and Jaylin Stewart added five.
With Stewart sidelined in a polo and khakis for the entire tournament, hopeful to return from his knee injury at some point during March Madness, Ross was a game-changer on Thursday.
He made an immediate impact, twice jumping passing lanes and going the length of the court for energy-infusing dunks. One of the team’s best athletes and wing defenders, he soared for a putback dunk and drilled a 3-pointer in the second half to finish with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 22 minutes.
“Just to be able to bring energy off the bench and make open shots and be that kind of defensive guy, I kind of always knew that was gonna be the bare minimum, baseline that I would need to do going into my junior year,” Ross said. “I think it’s really crucial that every team needs it, especially at this time in the year. I know that we’re gonna need a lot of it to win, especially with Stew out, he’s another person that can do those kinds of things.
“So hopefully he can get back in the mix soon and we can both bring it. I think we’ll be almost unstoppable at that point and continue to grow and get better throughout March.”
Ross’ performance allowed for Alex Karaban to get some rest, only playing 29 minutes after never leaving the court in the last two games of the regular season without Stewart.
“That’s not sustainable, and it’s diminishing returns,” Hurley said of the burden placed on Karaban.
Reibe was also able to come in and play well, scoring nine points (3-for-3 from the field) with four rebounds as a compliment to senior center Tarris Reed Jr., who had a dominant night with 17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in 26 minutes.
“With Stewie being down, it’s just a necessity. With Silas getting those two fouls in the first half, I mean, the halftime situation could have been much different for us and a much tighter game,” Hurley said. “But I thought Malachi was awesome in the first half. Jayden Ross, huge. And then Eric gave some great minutes. We had that combo at center that made us dominant in ’23 and ’24.
“The numbers those guys put up has been our recipe for being great. So if we get that type of bench production, we’re going to win a lot of games the rest of this college basketball season.”
