University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
13-1,3-0Big East
Xavier
9-5,1-2Big East
No. 4 Huskies Lead Wire-To-Wire In 90-67 Win At XU
12/31/2025 8:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CINCINNATI – The No. 4 UConn men's basketball team (13-1, 3-0 BIG EAST) won its ninth-straight with a wire-to-wire win at Xavier (9-5, 1-2 BIG EAST), knocking off the Musketeers by a score of 90-67 on Wednesday evening at the Cintas Center. Alex Karaban led all scorers with 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds with four assists, two steals and a block to lead the way for Connecticut. The Huskies hit a season-high 13 threes and shot 53.2 percent in the triumph.
Solo Ball and Braylon Mullins both added 17 points, with the rookie Mullins tying his career scoring high and setting new personal benchmarks in 3-pointers (5), rebounds (6) and assists (4). UConn led 30-6 midway through the first half and rode that huge early run the rest of the way. Tarris Reed Jr. was the fourth Husky in double-figures with 10 points and snared a team-high eight rebounds, part of a +16 effort on the glass. Malik Messina-Moore led Xavier with 16 points and Filip Borovicanin had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.
How it Happened
The Huskies started strong and opened up a 9-2 advantage in the early going after a Karaban three-point play at 17:07. UConn stretched its lead to double-digits minutes later with a Mullins steal leading to an alley-oop to Ball, before a Karaban breakaway slam triggered a Xavier timeout at 14:19 and the Huskies leading 16-4.
The Musketeers got a bucket off the stoppage before the Huskies answered with force, ripping off a 14-0 run over less than four minutes of game time to go up 30-6 at 9:46 of the opening stanza. Karaban and Reed Jr. combined for 10 points during the run.
UConn went through a four-plus minute field goal drought late in the first after its explosive start and a 6-0 mini-run to close the period for Xavier trimmed the advantage to 43-28 at the break. The Huskies held the Musketeers 0-of-10 from 3-point range and were +9 on the glass in the first half.
The Musketeers and Huskies played the opening of the second half even and XU pulled within 13, closest since the early minutes, before back-to-back 3-pointers from Ball and Malachi Smith put the Huskies up 59-40 at 14:01. Ball went on to stretch the lead to 66-42 at 12:21 with a tremendous individual effort, coming up with a block on one end and going coast-to-coast for a three-point play on the other.
Two more triples from Mullins and Karaban pushed the edge back to 77-52 with 8:12 to play, matching the largest lead of the contest. The Huskies did not allow the Musketeers within 20 the rest of the way.
Inside The Numbers
- UConn shot 33-of-62 (53.2 percent) from the floor and 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from 3-point range, holding Xavier to 24-of-56 (42.9) and 4-of-18 (22.2) marks
- The 13 triples for the Huskies were a season-high, the third time this season they have hit double-figure threes
- Mullins was 5-of-10 from three, while Karaban finished 7-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-5 from downtown
- Xavier entered the game third in the BIG EAST with 9.9 triples per game
- The Huskies dished out 26 assists on 33 field goals, one shy of their season-high
- It marked the fifth time this season UConn has hit the 20-assist mark and first time in BIG EAST play
- Silas Demary Jr. led all players with seven helpers, while Karaban, Mullins and Eric Reibe each had four
- Connecticut won the rebounding battle, 42-26, and turned 10 offensive rebounds into an 11-4 edge in second chance points
News and Notes
- UConn improves to 8-5 all-time against Xavier and 3-3 at the Cintas Center
- The Huskies are 19-7 in true road games since the start of '23-24, tied for the most away wins among high major programs in that span
- Karaban now has 1,549 career points, 13 away from cracking the top-20 on the UConn all-time scoring list (Scott Burrell, 1,562)
- Karaban hit three 3-pointers and now has 243 in his UConn career, passing Chris Smith (242) to move to fifth all-time
- Mullins' five 3-pointers marked his most in a game as a Husky and most for any UConn player in a game this season
- It marked the first time a Husky hit five threes in a game since Ball knocked down seven at Marquette on Feb. 1, 2025
- Reibe pulled down seven rebounds, the seventh time this year the freshman has grabbed at least five
- Uros Paunovic scored his first collegiate points with a jumper in the final minute
Up Next
The Huskies return to Gampel Pavilion for the first time in nearly a month to host Marquette on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.
