Braylon Mullins’ career game at Xavier was just the beginning, Dan Hurley says

Braylon Mullins had the best all-around game of his career in UConn’s 90-67 win at Xavier on Wednesday, and coach Dan Hurley said he was just getting started.

“The thing with Braylon is, Braylon’s a ballplayer. He hasn’t even started hanging on the rim yet,” Hurley told reporters in Cincinnati.

Mullins started his night with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the wing, then found Alex Karaban with a clear lane to the basket for his first assist to get the ball rolling on a dominant 33-8 Huskies’ run to start the game. He made two steals directly after the first media timeout – though he wasn’t credited for the first – and got out in transition after picking the pocket of Tre Carroll to toss an alley-oop lob from beyond the 3-point line for a Solo Ball dunk.

“At some point, he’s gonna be on the receiving end of the lob,” Hurley said. “He’s a very unique player. And he’s also, I think, way ahead of things from a defensive standpoint. He’s very sturdy and he’s very tough, he’s very competitive and he can guard. But yeah, obviously he’s got the shooting, he can score at all three levels and the guy can really pass. We’re very fortunate to have him at UConn. We got a lottery pick-level player that’s just really getting going right now.”

Mullins paced the Huskies to a season-high 13-made 3-pointers with five of his own as he tied the career-high 17-point mark he set at Kansas. He finished with six rebounds and four assists, both career-highs, and was credited with two steals, which also matched his career best (though he really had at least three).

No. 4 UConn men’s basketball closes 2025 with dominant 90-67 win at Xavier

Before making the trip out to Cincinnati, Mullins spoke of continuing to learn where to find his shots in the Huskies’ system after practice Monday. He said the coaches were throwing him into several different positions, teaching him how to create space off of a number of different actions. His potential, mixed in with the talent the Huskies have at every other position, is the reason why they are a bona fide championship contender again.

“He’s starting to understand how to get shots within the framework of the things that we run and for this team to get to its full potential, we need that Braylon Mullins, plus more,” Hurley said. “The difference with this year’s team as opposed to last year’s team is this year we can kind of go away from some of the off-ball stuff; the flares, the pins, the jets, the misdirection things – all of the different things. Because with Silas (Demary Jr.) now we’re able to attack a little bit more in the ball-screen game, whereas last year we were just so one-dimensional, kind of playing in a donut or a bagel.

“We’ve got a bunch of shooting, I think we’re gonna have more nights like tonight, maybe not 13-for-28, but I think this is a team that, with Braylon going, should make eight, nine, 10 3-pointers a night.”

A top-20 prospect? UConn’s Alex Karaban is having the most efficient season of his career

Karaban moves up

With his third 3-pointer of the game on five attempts, which put the Huskies up, 84-61, with 4:24 to play, Karaban surpassed all-time scoring leader Chris Smith into the fifth spot in the program’s all-time record book for made 3-pointers in his career. It was his 243rd made triple on 636 attempts, good for a 38.2% clip.

Karaban is 33 3-pointers away from Rashad Anderson’s record 276, which was set from 2002-06. Christian Vital (2016-20) is second at 265, followed by Shabazz Napier (2010-14) with 260 and Ben Gordon (2001-04) at 246.

“It’s in play,” he told John Fanta on the Peacock broadcast post-game. “I mean, to be in a position like that at a historic program like UConn, why not go after it? Why not chase it? It’s something on the individual list, it’s something I definitely want to go after.”

The Huskies’ captain finished the game with 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field, with seven rebounds, four assists, a block and two steals.

“He’s been a Big East Player of the Year, All-American-level player for us this year,” Hurley said. “Just another typical Alex Karaban (performance). … The most under-appreciated great player, All-American-level player in college basketball. Captain America.”

Huskies still working to cut down on turnovers

Wednesday’s game was UConn’s ninth this season and fourth in a row with at least 10 turnovers as the Huskies finished with 14, which prevented them from pulling away even further as their lead sat around 20 points all night.

“I’ve done a bad job with this team with the ball security and a lack of discipline,” Hurley said. “When a team shows a lack of discipline, it’s the coach. The coach is allowing it because I haven’t been able to clean it up in practice and get my point across. We’re nowhere near where we need to be in terms of ball security and I think maybe the only way to fix that is to start sitting these guys down when they turn it over. Or we’ve just got to turn up the heat in practice.”