How UConn’s focus on toughness and rebounding translated to Friday’s win over No. 13 Illinois

NEW YORK – Dan Hurley knew he wasn’t going to sleep well and the UConn men’s basketball team knew it had some tough practices coming after it was outrebounded by 20 and lost a tight game to Arizona last week at Gampel Pavilion.

In Friday’s win over No. 13 Illinois, against another frontcourt that could be one of the best in the country, the Huskies were the tougher team.

“It was shameful, the Arizona game, for our men just to be dominated on the glass by another man. To be physically dominated by another man was a very difficult feeling for our team and our club and our players,” Hurley said after taking down the Illini, 74-61, at Madison Square Garden. “Watching the clips of that game versus Arizona and the way that they manhandled us and the lack of the relentless efforts, we knew we had to do that today. Anything in the plus was a positive.”

UConn finished Friday’s game with a 43-38 advantage on the glass.

“The grit, the fight they play with… They won the rebound battle, they won the game,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “Unfortunately we didn’t make many shots and then didn’t find a way to combat that.”

Fifth-ranked UConn men take down No. 13 Illinois, 74-61, at Madison Square Garden

It was the first time Illinois was outrebounded all season, and it wasn’t just because center Tarris Reed Jr. returned to the starting lineup.

Reed, back a bit early from the ankle injury he suffered against BYU, was on a 15-minute restriction and grabbed five rebounds, three on the offensive end. Against the third-tallest team in the country, it was a full team effort led by forward Alex Karaban with nine and Eric Reibe with seven. Solo Ball and Jaylin Stewart also had five a piece.

“A lot of toughness drills, a lot of rebounding drills and making sure that (Arizona result) doesn’t happen again,” Karaban said of the week in practice. “Going in, top of the scouting report was we knew they crash every time, so we had to be the tougher team out there to win.”

Reibe, again stepping up to the challenge with Reed limited, grabbed two offensive rebounds on the possession that ended in Malachi Smith’s controversial four-point play, which ultimately sealed the win.

“The depth’s crazy on this team. The two years we won the national championship when I’ve been here, depth really was the key to everything. When someone’s not playing as well as they should be, or injuries, whatnot, next man steps up,” Karaban said. “Eric’s been getting way more comfortable out there. He’s played through big-time games and he’s really showed out for us when we needed him.”

Welcome to ‘Mali’s World’

Malachi Smith, the Dayton transfer from the Bronx, had plenty of friends and family in attendance as UConn made its first trip of the season to Madison Square Garden. And he gave them plenty to cheer for, impacting the game off the bench similarly to how Hassan Diarra would when he was the Big East Sixth Man of the Year in 2023-24.

While starter Silas Demary Jr. got into foul trouble, Smith stepped up with 14 points and nine assists.

“I just want to make sure I make plays, control the game, give my shooters some good shots, attack the paint,” Smith said.

“I still think point guards, point guard play is still critical,” Hurley said. “Malachi made a huge difference off the bench… He’s the story of the game.”

Smith uses the name “Mali’s World” (maliz_world) on social media, but he could’ve changed it Friday to “Madison Square Garden.”

“It felt like we were in Mali’s World,” Karaban said. “You definitely felt the electricity and when he made that 3, we were like, ‘Alright, this is Mali’s World.’”

Huskies one major step closer to full strength

UConn announced 80 minutes before tip-off that all 15 players would dress and be available to play for the first time this season. That meant both Reed and freshman Braylon Mullins, who’d been out since mid-October, were far enough along in their respective ankle rehab processes to get back on the court.

Hurley mentioned that, along with Smith, Reed’s courage to get back on the court probably a week earlier than he should’ve was a story of the game.

“He was in no position for us really to use him offensively today,” Hurley said. “Just his presence, his physical presence, his size, just occupying some minutes so that Eric didn’t have to play 30-plus. But he changes us offensively and defensively. We start playing in a donut – when we start running around the 3-point line too much because we don’t have enough diversity on offense, he solves a lot of that problem. Because you’re talking about a guy who’s a 70% shooter when we throw him the ball around the block area.”

Mullins played 10 minutes, though Hurley wished he would’ve given him another stretch in the first half, and had two points and two rebounds on 1-for-5 shooting. For him, Friday’s game was just about getting his feet wet.

“Just getting Tarris back healthy, hopefully a lot healthier for the Kansas game (on Tuesday). And then obviously Braylon, we want to get these guys now to the point where maybe going into Tuesday we’re not talking about minutes restrictions,” Hurley said. “Because those two guys are going to change our team a lot.”