University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
11-1,1-0Big East
Butler
8-3,1-1Big East
Ball's 26 Leads #5 UConn Past Butler in BE Opener
12/17/2025 12:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HARTFORD – Solo Ball scored a career-high 26 points to lead the No. 5 UConn men's basketball team (11-1, 1-0 BIG EAST) to a 79-60 win over Butler (8-3, 1-1 BIG EAST) in its conference lid-lifter on Tuesday night at a sold-out PeoplesBank Arena. Ball led four Huskies in double-figures and UConn shot over 50 percent, buoyed by a career-high 11 assists from Silas Demary Jr.
With the victory the Huskies improved to 12-0 all-time against the Bulldogs. It was UConn's third win in its conference opener in the last four years. Tarris Reed Jr. scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots while Braylon Mullins chipped in 12 points, three boards, two assists and two blocks. Jayden Ross was the final Husky in double-figures and had a monster performance off the bench with 13 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes.
UConn held a Butler offense averaging over 90 points per game to 60 points on 29.5 percent shooting, swatting a season-high 13 blocks. The Bulldogs jumped out to early leads of 9-2 and 11-4, but the Huskies dug in defensively and took their first lead midway through the first – one they would not relent the rest of the way. The Huskies went up as many as 23 in the second half and did not allow BU within single digits over the final 24:06 of the contest.
How it Happened
The Huskies scored the first basket of the game with a Demary Jr. alley-oop to Reed Jr., but the Bulldogs answered with a 9-0 run to set the early edge. Down 11-4 the Huskies answered with a 7-0 run of their own, holding Butler scoreless for over three minutes and tying the game at 11 with a Ball lay-in at 13:27.
Reed Jr. gave the Huskies their first lead since their opening basket at 9:37 when he hit inside to put UConn up 15-14. Later in the frame the Huskies exploded for a 12-0 run over 2:36 of game time and stretched the lead to double-figures for the first time, going up 30-17 with a Mullins 3-pointer at 5:36.
The Huskies took a 39-25 lead to the half, closing the opening stanza on a prolonged 35-14 run after Butler's hot start. Ball scored 17 in the first 20 minutes and Demary Jr. dished out seven assists before the break.
A Ball triple in the opening minute of the second half gave UConn its largest lead of the day when it went up 44-25. The lead trickled over 20 for the first time at 15:32 when Jayden Ross slammed home a put-back to put the Huskies up 50-29.
The Bulldogs started to find their outside shot midway through the second half and used an 8-0 run to pull within 11 before a Demary Jr.-Ross alley-oop finish snapped the run. After a stop, Reed Jr. hammed one home and prompted a Butler timeout with the Huskies up 66-51 and 6:57 to play. That was as close as the Bulldogs would get the rest of the way.
Inside The Numbers
- UConn shot 50.8 percent (32-63) from the floor and 35.0 percent (7-20) from three, holding Butler to marks of 29.5 percent (18-61) from the field and 20.8 percent (5-24) from deep
- In the first half the Huskies held Butler to 28.1 percent shooting from the field
- The Bulldogs started the game 5-of-8 from the field then went 4-for-35 over the next 22 minutes of game time, closing the first half 4-of-24 and opening the second 0-of-11
- UConn finished with a 13-2 edge in blocked shots
- The 13 blocks for UConn set a new season-high and marked the first double-figure block game for Connecticut since last year's BIG EAST opener on 12/18/24 vs. Xavier
- Eric Reibe led the charge with a career-high four swats, followed by Reed Jr.'s three and two from Mullins
- Seven total Huskies recorded at least one rejection
- It matched UConn's total against Sacred Heart on Nov. 3, 2024, it's last time with at least 13 swats
- The Huskies tied their season-high for a game with eight blocks in the first half alone
- The Huskies dished out 19 assists on 32 field goals
- Demary Jr. led the Huskies with his career-high 11 helpers, his second game with double-figure assists this year
- A total of seven Huskies had an assist on the day
- The career-high 26 for Ball came on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, a 3-of-6 day from 3-point range and a 7-of-8 effort from the charity stripe
- UConn dominated on the glass to the tune of a 47-29 rebounding advantage
- Ross led all Huskies with a game-high eight boards, while Reibe grabbed seven, Demary Jr. nabbed six and Ball, Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban all secured five
- UConn turned 15 offensive rebounds into an 18-13 edge in second chance points
- The Huskies finished with a 46-26 edge in points in the paint
- Despite an uncharacteristic -5 turnover margin, UConn out-scored BU 17-7 in transition
News and Notes
- UConn improves to 12-0 all-time against Butler
- Connecticut is now 21-26 all-time in league openers, 20-20 in BIG EAST openers and 3-5 in conference openers under Dan Hurley
- The Huskies have won 23-straight games in Hartford
- The 25 points allowed in the first half were the fewest for UConn vs. a high major this season
- Ball hit the 20-point mark for the second time this season and the seventh time in his career
- It was the second game in double-figures this season for Ross and the fifth of his career
- Ross' 13 points were a season-high and one of his career-high
- He tied his career-high with six made field goals and his eight rebounds were two off his career-best, also marking a season-high
- UConn is 70-27 (.722) in regular season BIG EAST games since returning to the league in 2020, the best winning percentage in the conference in that span
Up Next
The Huskies hit the road for the first time in BIG EAST play when they travel to DePaul on Sunday, Dec. 21.
