How Braylon Mullins quieted a raucous arena to earn UConn win

PROVIDENCE – There are few jumpers as pure as the motion Braylon Mullins refined and brought to UConn as one of the best scorers in a loaded high school class. His look isn’t imposing – still filling out a skinny, 6-foot-6 frame at 19 years old – but his jump shot can deliver a knockout punch in a blink of an eye.

On Wednesday night in Providence, UConn’s “humble Indiana boy” had almost 12,000 hostile and well-lubricated Friar fans stunned silent as the Huskies climbed back from down 11 with 3:12 to go to force overtime, where he served a lethal dose of split-second releases. Coaches can never know if a prospect will have that ability to go into a place with thousands rooting for their failure and take control of a moment like Mullins has at Allen Fieldhouse and now Amica Mutual Pavilion … until they actually do it.

“You could just see the special offensive abilities, the way he shoots the ball,” coach Dan Hurley said. “I mean, it’s like a beautiful rainbow. I mean, he’s a bringer of rain with that thing. It’s beautiful. And we’re not gonna have him here long, so we’re gonna enjoy it.”

The highlight reel Mullins put together in the overtime period alone, where he scored eight of his game-high 24 points on only three shots, zero hesitation as he hoisted the ball on the move, flying and fading away off of screens, was enough to catch the eye of NBA scouts and projectors who will surely pin him as UConn’s next lottery pick.

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“Braylon, I mean, he’s a fearless freshman,” said captain Alex Karaban, who delivered down the stretch as he’s done many times before. “He doesn’t play like a freshman at all, just how fearless he is out there and just the ways he’s able to score. He’s an underrated defender and he just creates so much offensively for us.”

Karaban and Mullins were keeping the Huskies afloat as they alternated 3-point shots to counter an uncharacteristically poor defensive effort in the first 13 minutes of the game. Then Providence, shooting nearly 60% from the field and from beyond the arc in the first half, took control with a forceful 21-4 scoring run. It was Karaban, Silas Demary Jr. and Tarris Reed Jr., with help from Jaylin Stewart, who keyed the comeback.

But overtime was Mullins’ moment.

He made his fifth and sixth 3-pointers in the extra period, helping UConn to a new single-game record 18 made triples after a rough, 5-for-24, outing on Sunday against Marquette where Mullins was just 1-for-7 from deep.

“I’m gonna come into every game and I’m gonna still shoot my shots,” he said. “Just shoot with confidence and it’s gonna get us where we need to be.”

“Yeah,” Hurley said, as if introducing his new star to an Elite Eight-sized contingent of Big East media. “That’s Braylon Mullins.”

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Most impactful transfer in the nation?

Demary became the first UConn player to ever register 20 points and 15 assists in a single game with his 23-point, 15-assist effort Wednesday night, not to mention the five steals and only one turnover. He picked his spots masterfully and shot an efficient 7-for-11 from the field, 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

The performance was enough to make him the highest-rated player in the Big East by EvanMiya.com metrics with an overall Bayesian Performance Rating of 8.92, which is 14th-highest of any player in the country this season. Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg can’t be ignored with his 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game on another loaded roster, but when it comes to filling an area of need and overall impact, the argument for best transfer can go either way.

“What he changed defensively for us compared to what we went through last year, he just seamlessly fit into that point guard role that we’ve had in ’23 and ’24 when we won the championships where our point guards led with their energy and their play on the court,” Karaban said. “Silas is no different than that. He brings his own game, but he’s able to be a killer out there and really just provide us with that energy and leadership.”

Reed rebounds from rough first half

Reed looked nothing like the player who went into the AMP last season and dominated for 24 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks in the first half on Wednesday. He was out of sorts from the jump, unable to finish or establish any sort of presence down low on either end of the court. The Friars, boasting the Big East’s leading shot-blocker in Oswin Erhunmwunse, owned the area under the basket.

It was a mental adjustment at halftime that allowed him to finish with 20 points – including the putback that sent the game to overtime – eight rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

“I didn’t start the game as I wanted to early, I wasn’t being as physical as I wanted down low in the post and coming into that second half it was just more aggressive,” he said. “Coach said I’ve got to be more aggressive, more dominant and more assertive in the post. Just catching the ball down low, I knew what I had to do and just really keeping it simple.

“That’s got to be my mindset and my motto, my approach to every game. If I started the game how I finished it, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”