LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Allen Fieldhouse pressure cooker was no match for UConn freshman Braylon Mullins on Tuesday night.
Playing in just his second college game, the freshman was comfortable amidst the chaos of Kansas’ cult-like home atmosphere. With UConn leading by three with 10 seconds to play, Mullins grabbed the defensive rebound off a missed layup, drew the intentional foul and sunk two free throws to cap off his breakout performance and seal UConn’s first-ever win in five all-time meetings with Kansas, 61-56.
“We do a free throw game every week, every day, every practice. So that (moment) didn’t bother me,” Mullins said. “I don’t think they’ve lost that much here, so… I’m just excited to celebrate a win with the team.”
The loss made Kansas 334-22 at Allen Fieldhouse under coach Bill Self, who is in his 23rd season, and it was only his second loss in 15 home opportunities against AP top-five teams.
And Mullins, matching Solo Ball with a team-high 17 points, had plenty to do with it. He made 6 of 12 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and grabbed five rebounds. Ball was 6 of 13 from the field, also with three triples. Alex Karaban scored nine of his 11 points in the second half and Eric Reibe, another freshman making his fourth start in place of Tarris Reed Jr. (ankle), held his own again with 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
“To be able to come into probably the best place in college basketball that you can go play a game and just to be in this atmosphere against one of the premiere program in the country. To really respond in the second half on the backboard the way we did and defensively after they got off to a fast start,” coach Dan Hurley said. “Our two young guys were just so good in a very adverse situation and then obviously this guy next to me (Karaban), this two-time national champion had a big second half.”
UConn (7-1) turned the ball over twice on its first three possessions before Ball got going. The junior found a rhythm at the free throw line and made a pair of jump shots to match the Jayhawks and account for the Huskies’ first seven points.
Mullins, who had just two points in 10 minutes during his debut Friday against Illinois, saw his first college 3-pointer fall midway through the first half before Kansas guard Elmarko Jackson went on a personal 8-1 run. But UConn’s five-star recruit answered with a putback layup and quieted the historic building with his second 3-pointer to keep the Jayhawks from pulling away.
“The first four minutes I was in until that media timeout, the nerves were going just to get my feet wet a little bit. But as the game went along, it was just playing basketball,” Mullins said.
UConn’s timing was a bit off in the echo-chamber of the sold-out crowd and the Huskies shot just 4 of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half. Reed’s absence was glaring inside as the team was outrebounded, 22-13, over the first 20 minutes.
Still, Ball nailed a transition 3-pointer with two minutes left, which served as the final points of the half and sent UConn into the break facing a 33-29 deficit.
Holding Kansas to just 5-for-20 from the field in the second half, the Huskies dominated the glass 25-10 after the break.
“I think you could see the growth with the team today,” Hurley said. “We knew, even though they made some early 3s, that they were a team that hurts you in the paint. To keep them to 20 paint points and five second-chance points is why we won the game.”
The Jayhawks scored nine of their first 11 points from the free throw line to start the second half. And Karaban, who had just two points on 1-for-4 shooting before the break, scored seven in a row and gave the Huskies the lead, 45-44, with 10:47 left in regulation.
Kansas, which was without its star guard Darryn Peterson, a potential top NBA Draft pick, for the seventh-consecutive game, had led since the 15-minute mark in the first half.
UConn’s advantage grew to six when Ball made his third 3-pointer with five and a half minutes to play and the contingent of UConn fans and families made themselves heard from the corner of the arena.
Kansas cut it back to a one-point game after an electrifying dunk from center Flory Bidunga (11 points, 12 rebounds) and a 3-pointer from Melvin Council Jr. (12 points) with 4:37 on the game clock. But Reibe rolled to the basket for a layup and Karaban finished one of his own to push the lead back out to five with just less than two minutes to play.
“They kept us on our toes the whole time. We were really taught to just tune out the crowd and just block out the noise,” Ball said. “Coach was talking about weathering the storm the whole time, so that’s what we were able to do and that’s what pulled us through the rest of the game.”
The Jayhawks only made one shot from the field over the final four minutes and Mullins never flinched in the final seconds.
It was UConn’s third ranked win in four opportunities this season.
“Very encouraged, and have more belief in what the group could do, what we could be long-term,” Hurley said. “Because I think a lot of these guys are gonna keep getting better. I think Braylon is nowhere near comfortable yet, Eric is gonna get better and better. And we’ve got so much depth and so many guys that can help us win a game.”
