University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
19-1,9-0Big East
Villanova
15-5,6-3Big East
No. 2 UConn Tops Villanova In OT To Win 15th Straight
1/24/2026 5:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HARTFORD – The No. 2 UConn men's basketball team (19-1, 9-0 BIG EAST) won its 15th-straight in dramatic fashion with a 75-67 overtime triumph over Villanova (15-5, 6-3 BIG EAST) on Saturday afternoon at a sold-out PeoplesBank Arena. The winning streak for Connecticut is its longest single-season win streak since matching the 15-game mark in the 1994-95 season and tied for the third-longest in program history.
Solo Ball had a huge day with a game-high 24 points and knocked down five 3-pointers, adding five boards and three assists. The Huskies trailed by four at the break and were down by that margin with eight minutes to play but used an Alex Karaban-fueled run to force the extra period. Karaban scored all 17 of his points in the final 14 minutes of regulation and overtime while adding eight rebounds on the day. In overtime, clutch late plays from Silas Demary Jr. helped the Huskies close on an 8-0 run to secure their first 9-0 start to BIG EAST play in 27 years. Demary Jr. scored 10 points and dished out a game-high seven assists with four rebounds and three steals, also scoring his 1,000th career point in the first half.
Tarris Reed Jr. was the fourth Husky in double-figures and notched his second straight double-double with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Connecticut shot only 33.3 percent in the first, but bounced back and connected at a 48.4 clip over the final 25 minutes of regulation and overtime. UConn held Villanova to 33.9 percent for the game, including 31.3 after halftime. The Huskies kept the Wildcats without a field goal for the final 4:48 of overtime and limited two of their top three scorers in Bryce Lindsay (14.7 ppg) and Acaden Lewis (12.3 ppg) to a combined seven points on 1-of-21 shooting from the field and 0-for-10 from three. Duke Brennan and Tyler Perkins tied for the VU lead with 16 points apiece and added 14 and 11 rebounds, respectively, to notch a pair of double-doubles.
How it Happened
Both sides shot under 40 percent in a defensive tussle over the first 20. The Wildcats scored the first eight points of the contest to grab early edge before Demary Jr. broke the ice for the Huskies off a feed from Reed Jr. That kicked off a 9-0 run for UConn, which took its first lead at 9-8 with 14:11 to play in the first.
Later in the frame the Wildcats took advantage of a cold shooting spell from the Huskies and went ahead, 21-15, with a 3-pointer at 6:21. A Ball 3-pointer and an Eric Reibe put-back got the Huskies back within one at 23-22 and spurred a VU timeout with 3:40 to go in the opening stanza. Another triple late in the half for the Wildcats, coming after the Huskies forced a five-minute field goal drought, gave Villanova a 31-27 lead at the break.
Ball opened the second half ledger with a 3-pointer, and another triple from Braylon Mullins leveled the score at 33-all two minutes into the period. At 15:09 a technical foul gave VU four-straight free throws to push the lead back to six. After the infraction, UConn answered with a 9-0 run, re-taking the lead for the first time since the opening minutes with a Ball 3-pointer at 12:13 and going up 42-39 on a Reibe lay-in.
The lead was short-lived as the game of runs continued with Villanova using a 7-0 spurt to go back in front. At 6:49 Reed Jr. muscled inside for two to even the score at 48-all. Minutes later at 4:59 the Huskies took a 53-32 lead with three free throws from Ball as the sides continued to go back and forth.
With 4:14 on the timer Karaban drilled a deep wing 3-pointer that gave the Huskies a 56-54 advantage. Moments later a three-point play the old-fashioned way from Karaban put the Huskies up 59-56. At 1:07 of regulation a VU triple gave the Wildcats a 61-59 lead and triggered a UConn timeout with one minute on the clock.
After the stoppage a Reed Jr. putback leveled the score again at 61 before a Villanova timeout with 43.1 to go. Jayden Ross blocked a 3-point attempt on the next trip, and after a scramble and jump ball the Huskies came away with possession. UConn was unable to convert on its final trip and the contest went to overtime.
The Wildcats opened overtime with their 10th 3-pointer of the contest – a bucket that would be their last of the day. At 3:31 a Demary Jr. steal after diving on the floor for a loose ball led to a Reed Jr. run-out dunk that cut the lead to one. With 2:08 to play Ball connected again from downtown and gave the Huskies a 67-65 lead. Two free throws from Brennan with 1:42 to play leveled the score once again at 67 before UConn made its final push.
With 1:24 to go Karaban drew contact and sunk a pair from the line to go back up two. After a stop on the other end, Demary Jr. drove for a clutch lay-in that gave Connecticut a four-point lead with under 50 seconds to play. The UConn point guard came up with a defensive rebound on VU's next trip before sinking two more from the stripe to go up six, and after Ross nabbed a loose ball with 19 seconds to play Karaban officially put the game on ice with two more from the stripe to cap an 8-0 to end overtime.
Inside The Numbers
- The Huskies shot 41.0 percent (25-61) from the floor, 36.4 percent (8-22) from three and 77.3 percent (17-22) from the free throw line
- Conversely, Villanova finished 20-of-59 from the field (33.9 percent) but was 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from 3-point range and also 17-of-22 from the stripe
- UConn finished with a slight 42-39 edge on the glass and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 19 second chance points
- Connecticut held a 32-20 edge in points the paint and a narrow 10-9 edge in transition scoring
- UConn dished out 17 assists on 25 field goals and had only nine turnovers
- The Huskies were +2 in turnover margin and out-scored VU 9-6 off miscues
News and Notes
- UConn is now 39-40 all-time against Villanova and 8-6 vs. the Wildcats under Dan Hurley, including wins in seven of its last eight vs. VU
- The Huskies are 10-1 at home this season and 6-0 at PeoplesBank Arena
- Connecticut has won its last 25 contests in Hartford dating back to Jan. 2023
- UConn is 2-0 this season in overtime and improves to 3-1 when trailing at the half
- The five made 3-pointers from Ball mark his most in a game this season and most since hitting seven at No. 9 Marquette on Feb. 1, 2025
- Ball scored 20+ for the second time this season and the seventh in his career
- Demary Jr. eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark with a lay-up at 15:39 of the first
- UConn is now 111-23 with Alex Karaban as an active member of the program – the 111 wins make him the third-winningest class in UConn history, trailing only Samson John's 115 wins and the 1999 class of Freeman, Kleiber and Moore with 114
- The start for Karaban was the 130th of his career, passing Taliek Brown (129) for second in program history and trailing only Jake Voskhul's record 135 starts
- Karaban finished the day with 1,628 career points, nipping at the heels of Jerome Dyson (1,630, 17th) and Mike McKay (1,633, 16th) as he climbs the ranks in UConn history
- The redshirt senior hit his 253rd career 3-pointer, now seven back of Shabazz Napier (260) for second in UConn history
- Reibe finished with four points, four rebounds and two assists in 13 efficient minutes, recording a +6 plus/minus off the bench
- The double-double for Reed Jr. was his second-straight, his fourth of the season and the 14th of his career
- Mullins finished with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting and hit a pair of 3-pointers in 18 minutes before suffering an injury early in the second half and missing the rest of the contest
Up Next
The Huskies are back on campus on Tuesday night to welcome Providence for a 7:30 p.m. tip at Gampel.
