UConn Basketball dominates UMass Lowell with 110-47 victory
Dan Hurley complained about a lot of things after No. 4 UConn basketball’s “excruciating” 22-point win over New Haven on Monday.
Those complaints included, but were not limited to, on-ball defense, a lack of assists, the frontcourt’s rebounding woes and the inconsistency of his offense’s 3 point shooting.
The Huskies (2-0) fared just a little bit better in each of those categories on Friday in a 110-47 win over UMass Lowell (1-1).
You want proof?
The River Hawks didn’t sink a field goal until the 6:20 mark of the first half and shanked all six of its first half layups. The Huskies, meanwhile, dished 17 first half assists and hit on 53.8% of their three pointers. Tarris Reed Jr. returned from injury and imposed his will down low in the early going, grabbing four of the Huskies’ first five defensive rebounds in what quickly became a massacre on the glass.
“I thought it was an appropriate level of playing mad, playing angry, being embarrassed with the first game’s performance,” Hurley said. “Taking it out on an opponent on the defensive end of the court is where it all begins and ends.”
Connecticut held a 47-point lead at the break – the now-largest in program history, which broke the 40-point lead the Huskies had over Wagner in November of 1998.
1998 went on to be a cool year for the Huskies. 2025 has the chance to have the same effect in Storrs.
If the Huskies are to reach that mountain top – on the journey that some call the “Stairway to Seven” – it’ll be on the back of Reed, Solo Ball and Alex Karaban, the program’s three preseason All-Big East First Team selections.
They combined for 47 of UConn’s 110 points on Friday and hit on a collective 19 field goals in the 63-point romp of Lowell. Reed pulled down 12 rebounds, Ball was a sterling 83% from the field and totaled 14 points while Karaban led all players with a +49 plus/minus, chipping in 13 points, respectively.
Reed’s return was the Huskies’ most coveted prize on Friday night. The true senior fortified the paint, swatting four shots and grabbing a steal on the defensive end to pair with his 12 boards and +37 plus/minus – which he compiled in just 17 minutes of game time. The “Kodiak Bear” finished with a 20-point double-double in his return.
“Tarris brings a certain presence. He’s an enforcer,” Silas Demary Jr. said of Reed post-game. “When you look at us across the board and you see T-Reed playing the five, it’s a scary sight. He impacts a lot of shots, he talks a lot and he’s a leader, so I think him being on the floor brought out another level of who we are.”
Reed deflected a River Hawk pass out of bounds early in the first half before turning towards the crowd and screaming in front of Hurley, who was glowing post-game as well.
“It helped everybody. It helped Eric [Reibe]’s performance – it allowed Eric to slide into the Donovan [Clingan] freshman situation,” Hurley said. “But you can see the impact on defense, the impact on offense.”
The “big three” comprised less than half of the Huskies’ seven double-figure scorers, however.
Demary hit on six of his seven field goal attempts (most of which came at the rim) and finished with 16 points and seven assists. Jaylin Stewart chipped in 10 points from the wing and finished with a +40 plus/minus. Malachi Smith came off the bench and totaled 14 points in 19 minutes. Reibe missed only one shot enroute to an 11-point, five-rebound day off the bench.
All 10 of the Huskies who played over three minutes scored, with eight recording three or more made field goals. The two that didn’t – Dwayne Koroma and Alec Millender – weren’t slouching either, diving for balls in the open court up 60 late in the second half and wrestling for jump balls down low.
“This is one of the deepest teams I’ve ever had,” Hurley said. “We’re deep at point guard, we’re deep on the wing, we just have to guard the way we guarded today.”
It was a detonation — quick, simple and scarily efficient. Exactly what the Huskies needed after an uneasy opening day win over their newest in-state rival.
“We showed an appropriate level of anger and a mindset of redemption relative to the first official game performance,” Hurley said. “I was pleased to see the level of intensity that we were able to sustain for 80%, 85%pf the game.”
The Huskies were still a few cards shy of a full deck in the big win. Freshmen Braylon Mullins and Jacob Furphy both missed Friday’s game with ankle injuries.
Furphy will be near full health when the fourth-ranked Huskies take on the ninth-ranked BYU Cougars next Saturday in TD Garden.
But before that, perhaps more importantly in the eyes of Hurley, Connecticut hosts Columbia in Gampel Pavilion.
“Columbia, you know, is the Super Bowl for us on Monday night,” Hurley said referencing the Lions’ win over New Haven earlier today. “We’ve got to look like a pack of hungry wolves in that one.”
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