The no. 4 UConn men’s basketball team took care of business against DePaul Saturday afternoon, dispatching the Blue Demons, 72-60, in Hartford to win their 12th straight game. Braylon Mullins led the Huskies with 17 points and a season-high seven rebounds. Silas Demary Jr continued his stellar play with 14 points and four assists while Alex Karaban supplied a workman-like 14 points and four rebounds.
UConn (16-1, 6-0 Big East) forced 12 steals and outscored the Blue Demons 38-28 in the paint as the Huskies improved to 22-1 all-time vs. DePaul.
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From throwing up on the court in Chicago to now, Demary Jr continues to follow the Tristen Newton trajectory for transfer point guards, shooting 11/17 from three in his last five games.
Mullins also looks more comfortable by the minute, pouring in his 17 on 10 shots with two threes and four free throws. Overall, UConn shot 84% from the charity stripe and posted its third-best free-throw rate of the season, a welcome sign for a team ranked no. 221 in the country in free-throw percentage.
First Half
A four-point play from Mullins — after four different players touched the ball — caused the first crowd pop at People’s Bank Arena.
The Huskies were aggressive, attacking the basket early within the flow of their offense, but the issue was the finishing.
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DePaul was held without a field goal for over six minutes, and it started to make sense why the Blue Demons were the 204th-ranked offense on KenPom. Three Jayden Ross free throws put UConn up 10 by the U-8 timeout; he followed that up with an impressive pin off the backboard.
UConn’s length forced the Blue Demons into a lot of long twos and desperation hoists, giving them a 20-10 scoring edge in the paint. DePaul took the punch though, and got back within four after three UConn turnovers.
Demary Jr helped the Huskies out of their offensive lull with some tough finishes at the rim and a last-second three to end the half. The Georgia transfer — fresh off his Providence masterclass — scored his nine first-half points, all in the last three minutes.
Second Half
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You know what the first half missed? Solo Ball, who promptly made up for no shots in the first half with five quick points as part of an 11-1 UConn spurt. With their leading scorer back in a rhythm, UConn’s offense was humming.
DePaul didn’t hit a basket until 15:26. Mullins flashed his playmaking chops with some nice feeds to fellow freshman Eric Reibe. The big man recovered from an off night at Providence, posting six points off the bench.
The Huskies coasted with an 18-point lead despite both teams not scoring for a lengthy multi-minute stretch. With UConn in the bonus at 10:15, there was an opportunity to goose up the team’s rather pedestrian 70% free throw percentage.
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The lead finally broke 20 after a few insane sequences from the crazy-active Mullins, featuring a triple, two-straight steals, and kickout to Karaban for a three. UConn took its foot off the gas a little as time wound down, but overall it was a solid wire-to-wire win with a lot to like throughout.
