Takeaways from UConn men’s basketball exhibition win over BC

UNCASVILLE – The UConn men’s basketball team, drowning in missed 3-pointers, trailed Boston College by three with 13 and a half minutes to play in the second half of Monday’s Hall of Fame exhibition game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Then Malachi Smith drove to the basket for a layup, Dwayne Koroma followed suit and the crowd reached peak volume when Alex Karaban got his second 3-pointer to fall, accelerating a 23-5 scoring run over eight minutes to effectively seal the 71-52 win.

Karaban finished with a team-best 17 points with 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Solo Ball and five-star freshman Braylon Mullins, who capped the game with his second triple on seven attempts and a highlight dunk, each finished with 12 points.

UConn’s shooting struggles started early as they missed nine of their first 10 attempts, but the defense shined as the Huskies built their lead up to 16 points with four minutes left in the first half – the Karaban-Ball tandem combining for 11 consecutive points. Attacking inside, Boston College went on an 11-3 scoring run to cut its deficit to eight points at halftime and went ahead quickly after the break.

The fact that the Huskies came back, without their starting point guard and center in Silas Demay Jr. (calf) and Tarris Reed Jr. (hamstring), was an encouraging sign for coach Dan Hurley.

“It was good to have a little bit of that adversity with the group missing some key players. I thought it was just a good experience for everybody,” Hurley said. “It makes me more of a believer in the team, to be able to play a high-major team, an ACC team, missing two of your best five players, your two best defensive players… And obviously a big part of our offense is to get great 3s from our big-time shooters, just not having Tarris that we could throw the ball inside to when we were missing shots, that hurt tonight.”

Dom Amore: This time, UConn men appear primed to play defense in Dan Hurley style

Update on Demary and Reed

Demary was listed as day-to-day with his minor calf injury and participated in warmups before changing into street clothes. Reed will take a longer recovery process, likely missing the Oct. 28 exhibition against Michigan State.

“You’re hopeful for the (Nov. 3) opener,” Hurley said. “We’ve just got to make sure the guy is healthy… We’ve had these soft tissue injuries that have been frustrating… We’ve just had some bad luck or whatever’s going on with that. I’ve got 15-20 years as a head coach and I’ve never had players miss time with these types of injuries. So we’ve got to get these guys healthy.”

Next man up: Smith and Reibe make their intro

Starting in Demary’s place, Malachi Smith lived up to the Hassan Diarra comparisons. The gritty guard was disruptive at the point of attack and dished five of the team’s 20 assists, turning the ball over just once. He added seven points and a block.

“I definitely felt good today, first time putting the Huskies’ jersey on, I wanted to make sure I don’t put a lot of stress on myself, just go out there and have some fun,” he said. “I think my job is to bring a lot of energy to the team, I think I just do that normally… Make it easier for my teammates.”

Reibe made a strong first impression, finishing a pair of hook shots early and holding his own on the glass and at the rim. He was called for two fouls early but was never called for a third in 14 second-half minutes.

“I thought Eric handled himself well, he didn’t finish everything but I thought he functioned well, got himself to the right spots. He’s gonna grow and keep getting better, I think the guy’s gonna be an awesome player,” Hurley said. “Donovan Clingan’s gonna hate me for saying it, but Donovan’s first closed scrimmage vs. Virginia, I think I played him three minutes – disaster basketball. DC, Cling Kong, you remember. Eric did a lot of good things out there, he should’ve had 14 (points) and eight (rebounds) but I think Eric’s gonna be great.”

Huskies show defensive improvement, even without two best

UConn brought Demary in to fix its defense, and Reed is one of the more efficient defensive big men in the country when he’s not over-fouling.

Still, with both of them out, the improvement was clear.

The Huskies forced 12 turnovers in the first half and eight in the second, capitalizing with 27 points off turnovers to the Eagles’ two. Karaban set the tone early with his on-ball defense, forcing the ball away from him before he came back around to block a shot in the first two minutes of the game. As for Ball, Hurley needs to see the tape.

“Eye test said it was better,” Hurley said. “We have to get better there. It sucked the season last year, just our perimeter defense. Solo wants to be good on defense, he just needs to get back to playing more athletic at that end of the court. But I do think the team’s got the potential with Tarris and Silas in there, with the bench depth and everything that we got, to really be a team that turns people over a lot and pressures people and is more disruptive.”

Boston College managed just 15 made field goals on 47 attempts (31.9%) and had only two assists.

Offense opened up good shots, but Huskies couldn’t get them to fall

UConn made just one of its first 10 attempts from beyond the arc and finished the first half with just five makes (from five different players) on 21 attempts (23.8%).

The second half started off the same, missing layups and their first five 3-pointers until Karaban made his second of the game to accelerate the game-sealing run. His third make got the crowd on its feet as it extended the lead to 15 points with six minutes to play.

“It was opening night jitters,” Hurley said. “Braylon (Mullins) I thought took one bad 3, Solo might’ve taken one bad 3, AK might’ve taken one bad 3, and those guys went 6-for-25.”

Originally Published: October 13, 2025 at 9:32 PM EDT