Solo Ball’s shooting effort lifts No. 2 UConn men to 75-67 overtime victory over Villanova

The UConn men’s basketball team had been there before.

Trailing Villanova by two in the final minute of regulation, Tarris Reed Jr. managed to get a hand on a missed layup from Silas Demary Jr. and tip the ball back in to tie the game, ultimately sending it to overtime. The Wildcats started the extra period with a 3-pointer but UConn, which had won three of its last four games by five points or less, took a lead with Solo Ball’s fifth triple of the game and didn’t allow another made shot from the field until the clock hit zero.

The 75-67 win at PeoplesBank Arena was the 15th in a row for the second-ranked Huskies, marking the program’s longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season.

UConn improved to 19-1 on the year and 9-0 in Big East play.

Ball broke out for a game-high 24 points, his best game since his 26-point effort against Butler on Dec. 16, and added five rebounds and three assists. Alex Karaban scored all 17 of his points in the final nine minutes of the second half and in the overtime period, adding eight rebounds.

Demary came up big again down the stretch and finished with 10 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Reed, who fouled out in the overtime period, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

After a week off, UConn’s offense got off to a miserable start. The Huskies missed a series of layups and didn’t find the bottom of the net until they had already spotted Villanova eight points, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from forward Matt Hodge. But Demary and Braylon Mullins got a run started and Jaylin Stewart sunk a tip-in to jump ahead, 9-8, around the 14-minute mark.

But the Huskies found themselves in another dry spell, more than five minutes without a made field goal as Villanova crashed the boards, won hustle plays and built its lead to six. The sold-out crowd, growing restless, was brought to its feet when Ball, who was just 1-for-13 from beyond the arc over the last three games, got his first triple to fall. He hit another in the final minute of the half, but Villanova answered from the corner to go into the break with a 31-27 lead.

Ball started the second half with another triple and Mullins followed suit to tie it before he exited the game shaken up after taking a hit to the head from fellow Big East Freshman of the Year candidate Acaden Lewis. Mullins eventually returned to the bench, but never got back on the court.

The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run as Dan Hurley picked up his second technical foul of the season, arguing a no-call after what he thought was an over-the-back foul.

UConn answered with a 7-0 run after the series of free throws and took its first lead since the score was 9-8 when Ball saw his fourth 3-pointer fall with 12 minutes left to play. It was his first game since March 1, 2025, with at least four made 3-pointers.

Karaban, scoreless for the first 31 minutes of game time, made his first shot with nine minutes left. But Tyler Perkins stood in the way of UConn maintaining a lead as he continually found himself with a solid look under the rim. But Ball was bailed out and fouled on a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and Karaban came through with a big-time shot from the wing to take a two-point lead.

The Huskies’ captain finished a three-point play under the basket to make it a three-point lead with 3:36 left, but the Wildcats made a pair of free throws before Hodge knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game.

UConn tied the game on a tip-in from Reed and sent it to overtime after Ross blocked a Villanova 3-point attempt and Karaban turned the ball over on the Huskies’ last possession in regulation.

Villanova began overtime with a 3-pointer from Perkins but didn’t make another shot from the field in the extra period as Ball nailed his fifth triple, Karaban came through at the foul line and Demary put on the finishing touches with a layup to go up four with 47 seconds to play. He and Karaban hit the final four free throws to put the game away.