No. 5 UConn Nabs Road Win At No. 21 Kansas, 61-56

Tuesday, December 2

Lawrence, Kan.

9 p.m.

University of Connecticut

7-1,0-0Big East

Kansas

6-3,0-0Big 12

UConn

Kansas

12/3/2025 12:36:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 5 UConn men's basketball team (7-1) picked up a marquee road win over No. 21 Kansas on Tuesday night, topping the Jayhawks by a score of 61-56 at Allen Fieldhouse. Freshman Braylon Mullins had a breakout performance in his second career game, one of four Huskies in double-figures with a game-high 17 points off the bench.

The Huskies trailed by four at the half and as many eight during the contest, pulling ahead with 10:47 to play for the first time since the opening minutes and leading the rest of the way. Solo Ball was hot early and clutch late, tying Mullins with 17 points to lead all players. Eric Reibe was the second UConn rookie to have a big day and scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting along with a team-high eight rebounds. Alex Karaban finished with 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, with all but two points coming in the second half.

UConn was out-rebounded by nine in the first half but turned the tables in the second, going +15 on the glass in the final 20. The Huskies held Kansas to 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) shooting in the second half to out-score the Jayhawks 32-23 after the break and pick up the program's first win in five tries against Kansas. Ball, Karaban and Mullins keyed the comeback with timely shot-making to pair with UConn's terrific defensive effort.

How it Happened

Ball scored UConn's first seven points and gave Connecticut its first lead with a 3-pointer at 16:40 to make it 7-6. Mullins hit his first career 3-pointer at 9:40 to cut a KU lead to 19-18, but the Jayhawks responded with an 8-1 run and took a 27-19 lead to the U-8 stoppage with 7:54 to play.

Mullins put on a personal 5-0 run after the stop and forced a Kansas timeout with a 3-pointer at 6:37 to pull the Huskies within three at 27-24. A Reibe bucket after the stop cut the lead to one, but the Jayhawks did not relent their first half advantage and took a 33-29 lead to the break.

A pair of Reibe lay-ins opened UConn's second half scoring ledger and got the Huskies within two. Kansas responded with a 5-0 mini run to stretch its lead back to seven to before Mullins hit a triple at 14:59 to make the score 40-36. Over a 2:30 span later in the frame, Karaban scored seven-straight points and gave UConn its first lead since the opening minutes when it went up 45-44 with 10:47 to play.

With Kansas still within one at 6:12, Ball hit a mid-range jumper to push the advantage to three, and on UConn's next trip he drilled a 3-pointer that led to a Kansas timeout with UConn holding its largest lead of the night up 55-49 with 5:32 to play.

Kansas answered with the next five after the stoppage and it was UConn that called for time with 4:28 remaining and a one-point lead. The teams traded stops over the next set of trips, until Ball found Reibe for a lay-in at 2:38. After another Husky stop, Karaban hit inside and Kansas called for time at 1:52 and the Huskies up five.

UConn held a 59-56 lead when KU called for time again and 23.2 ticks remaining on the regulation timer. On the Jayhawks ensuing trip. Karaban blocked a shot at the rim and Mullins snared the board and was fouled. Facing a 1-and-1, the freshman hit two from the line with under 10 seconds to play and salted away the five-point win.

Inside The Numbers

The Huskies shot 42.1 percent (24-57) from the floor and 26.9 percent (7-29) from 3-point range, holding Kansas to 35.3 percent (18-51) and 27.8 percent (5-18) marks
- In the second half, UConn shot 44.8 percent and held Kansas to 25.0 percent
- Connecticut limited Kansas to 1-of-7 3-point shooting after halftime
UConn finished with a 38-32 edge on the glass and an 11-9 advantage in offensive bounds
- UConn dominated the glass to the tune of 25-10 in the second half
- The Huskies out-scored Kansas 14-5 in second chance points
Connecticut out-scored Kansas 30-20 in the paint and 19-13 in bench scoring
UConn finished with seven blocks and five steals
- Karaban, Reibe and Jaylin Stewart all had two swats
- Reibe led the Huskies with two steals, the first two swipes of his career
Mullins added five rebounds to his 17 points and was a game-best +13 in 23 minutes as a reserve – coming into the game had 10 career minutes under his belt

News and Notes

UConn is now 1-4 all-time against Kansas
The Huskies are 26-11 since the start of 2022-23 against ranked foes and 3-1 this season – the 26 ranked wins in that span lead the country
UConn is 17-7 in true road games since the start of '22-23, tied for the most away wins among high majors (Duke, Houston) in that time
The Huskies are now 20-8 against ranked foes away from home (road or neutral) over the past four seasons
Reibe scored in double-digits for the fourth time this season and third time in his last four outings
- In that span, which has included three spot starts, Reibe is averaging 12.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 62.9 percent (22-35)
Kansas will return Tuesday's game in Connecticut next season
Mullins became the ninth different Husky this season to score in double-figures