HARTFORD – Dan Hurley was ready to take Silas Demary Jr. out of Sunday’s 72-49 win over Bryant until associate head coach Kimani Young stepped in to point out that the new UConn point guard needed one more assist for a triple-double.
So Hurley, one to believe in positive omens, obliged and gave Demary a 30-second extension.
With three minutes left, the Georgia transfer found his freshman center, Eric Reibe, wide open in the paint for a dunk to notch his 10th assist to go with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and four steals.
“Last time we had a guy that was getting triple-doubles, season went great,” Hurley said after the game, as if he was daydreaming of Tristen Newton leading his 2023 and 2024 teams to back-to-back national titles.
It was the program’s first triple-double since Newton recorded the fourth of his career – a UConn record in only two seasons – on Feb. 24, 2024 against Villanova, about six weeks before his name was put up in the Huskies of Honor. Coming out of the portal for his junior season, just like Newton did, Demary stated that he wanted to be “the next great UConn point guard,” mentioning names like Newton, Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier.
“Being a point guard here, it comes with a lot of responsibility and I think the coaches are just putting me in position to keep trending in the right direction,” Demary said, reporting that it was the first triple-double he’s ever had. “To be here I’ve got to keep making the right plays and keep being a steady point guard. I definitely have a more well-rounded game here (as opposed to the last two years at Georgia) because I have guys around me that are willing to play their role and in the right position, just being able to make my job easier.”
Sunday’s game certainly wasn’t the easiest for a triple-double – at least the double-figure points and assists. There were plenty of rebounds to go around.
UConn (5-1) shot just 39.1% from the field (25-for-64) and 20% from beyond the arc (5-for-25)
Starting for the second game in a row as senior center Tarris Reed Jr. joined freshman Braylon Mullins on the bench, both dealing with ankle injuries, Reibe followed his team-high 15-point effort against No. 4 Arizona on Wednesday with another team-high of 16 points on Sunday, adding six rebounds in 19 minutes played.
“I’ve just got to thank my teammates and my coaches for helping me get to my spots, into positions where I’m just able to produce more. Definitely thanks to all of them,” Reibe said. “I did not know (the dunk was to complete the triple-double) but I was so happy when I heard that.”
The 7-foot-2 freshman joined his point guard as the only Huskies in double-figure scoring.
“You don’t play many America East schools that are, on KenPom, the tallest team in the country,” Hurley said. “I actually thought that some of their length impacted some of the rim finishes that we felt like there was probably 8-10 things at the rim we probably should’ve finished. And obviously just didn’t shoot it well from 3, got some great looks. Hopefully we can get some of our bigger guns going here.”
Alex Karaban and Solo Ball combined for just 13 points on 5-for-21 shooting from the field.
“I always think for shooters it’s like, when you’re coming off a bad shooting game, or a couple of bad shooting games, you know you’re about to go on a heater. So hopefully, as the schedule’s about to shift, we’ll get some of these guys, some of our big-time shooters going,” Hurley said.
UConn’s defense, in addition to forcing 21 turnovers, held Bryant to a 2-for-15 start from the field, which lasted through most of the first half. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting just 11-for-40 from the floor and 7-for-23 from 3-point range.
“We had some live-ball turnovers that led to some easy things for them, but I thought our defense – we didn’t just overwhelm them with talent. I thought we were in the right spots and I thought we guarded things well. So I was happy with it,” Hurley said.
Sunday’s game was in what some would call a trap spot, a buy game with two high-profile matchups on either end of it. The Huskies played a pair of top-10 games over the last eight days against BYU and Arizona, and have two more ranked matchups coming up with Illinois in a Black Friday matinee at Madison Square Garden before their first road trip of the season to Kansas on Dec. 2.
But the energy from Jayden Ross off the bench helped keep Bryant about 20 points behind for most of the evening. The emerging, uber-athletic junior wing thrived in transition and added at least two exclamation point dunks in the first half. He finished a team-best plus-24 with eight points, five rebounds and two steals.
“It definitely makes it so much easier (having a point guard like Demary) because it draws a lot of attention. He’s a great player, he’s going to make the right decision, so it makes my job super easy,” Ross said. “I’ve just got to be in the right spots and he sees everything, so it’s a tribute to him and it’s starting to show every game more and more. Super proud of him tonight and we’re gonna continue to build on it.”
