University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
20-1,10-0Big East
Providence
9-12,2-8Big East
No. 2 Huskies Take 16th-Straight With 87-81 Win over PC
1/28/2026 12:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STORRS – The No. 2 UConn men's basketball team (20-1, 10-0 BIG EAST) won its 16th-straight with an 87-81 triumph over Providence (9-12, 2-8 BIG EAST) on Tuesday night at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion. The winning streak is the third-longest in program history and Connecticut is off to best overall start since 1998-99.
The Huskies built a double-digit first half lead but it was short-lived in a contest that featured four ties and four lead changes. UConn took a four-point lead to the break but saw Providence tie the contest early in the second stanza. A 12-5 spurt for the Huskies gave them a seven-point lead, and they would not trail the rest of the way despite PC pulling as close as one multiple times in the final 20.
Tarris Reed Jr. led five Huskies in double-figures with 19 points, shooting 8-of-9 from the field and adding six rebounds and four blocks. While limited to 19 minutes by foul trouble he was picked up emphatically by his fellow big Eric Reibe, who scored 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Reibe was part of a big day for the UConn bench, as Malachi Smith had a huge game and scored 12 points, shot 4-of-4 from three, dished out seven assists without a turnover and added two steals and a block. As a team the Huskies dished out 23 assists and hit 11 3-pointers.
Also in double-figures for Connecticut were Solo Ball with 17 points and Silas Demary Jr., who scored 15 points with six assists and four rebounds. Alex Karaban lightly flirted with a triple-double and scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out a season-best seven assists. For PC, Jamier Jones scored a game-high 20, Jaylin Sellers had 18 and Oswin Erhunwunse scored 14 with 10 rebounds.
How it Happened
The contest opened with offenses on display. After the Huskies took the early lead, the Friars rattled off an 8-0 run and grabbed a 13-8 advantage at 15:10 of the first. UConn answered quickly with six-straight and took a 14-13 lead with a second-chance Smith 3-pointer at 14:07.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Smith and Karaban kicked off a 12-2 run, capped by a Demary Jr. triple to give UConn its largest lead at 29-19 with 9:39 on the timer. The game of early runs continued, and a 9-0 burst for PC got the Friars back within one before a UConn timeout with 6:52 remaining in the opening stanza.
After stemming the run, another Karaban triple pushed the Husky lead back to 38-32 before the final media stoppage of the half at 3:42. UConn went on to take a 41-37 lead to the break.
The Friars pulled even early in the second half and was within one after a 3-pointer before Demary Jr. canned back-to-back triples and triggered a PC timeout with 15:23 to go and the Huskies up 53-46. Two more 3-pointers from Smith, his third and fourth of the day, kept the UConn lead at seven and it took a 61-54 lead to a timeout at 11:41.
PC got it back to one before a Ball jumper snapped a 7-2 mini-run and gave UConn a 67-64 lead with 7:53 to go. Minutes later UConn answered with a 7-0 burst, using a Karaban floater, Ball 3-pointer and Reed Jr. bucket to go up 74-66 with 4:38 to go. The Friars still would not go away and were back within three ahead of the final media timeout.
With 2:19 to play, Reed Jr. connected off a Karaban entry pass and put the Huskies up 78-73. Barely a minute later with the Huskies up six, Reed Jr. came up with a steal near midcourt before thundering to the cup for a fast break slam. The steal-and-score put UConn up 81-73 with 1:04 to play, and PC did not pull closer than six the rest of the way.
Inside The Numbers
- The Huskies shot 44.6 percent (29-65) from the field and 45.8 percent (11-24) from three, while PC hit at 48.1 percent (26-54) and 35.7 percent (5-14) clips
- UConn hit double-digit 3-pointers for the fifth time this season
- UConn dished out 23 assists on 29 field goals
- It marked the sixth time this season UConn has reached 20 assists and the second time during conference play
- Karaban and Smith tied for the game-high with seven assists apiece, while Demary Jr. added six
- The Huskies finished with a 9-6 edge in blocked shots
- Reed Jr. led all players with four swats, while Karaban and Reibe each blocked a pair
- UConn entered the day 13th nationally with 5.7 blocks per game
- The Huskies have recorded at least five swats in seven of 10 league games
- UConn was +1 in turnover margin and out-scored PC 13-9 off miscues
- Connecticut finished with a 37-35 edge on the glass and turned 15 offensive rebounds into a 14-11 edge in second chance points
- The center duo of Reed Jr. and Reibe combined for 33 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks while shooting 14-of-15 from the field
News and Notes
- UConn is 53-31 all-time against Providence and has won eight-straight in the series
- The Huskies are now 100-25 all-time against BIG EAST foes at Gampel Pavilion
- Karaban moved into 16th place in UConn history with1,636 points, passing Jerome Dyson (1,630) and Mike McKay (1,633) on UConn's all-time scoring ledger
- He has recorded 255 career 3-pointers, five shy of Shabazz Napier (260) for third in program history
- Karaban made his 131st career start, four shy of Jake Voskuhl's program record
- Reibe scored in double-figures for the sixth time this season and the first time since Dec. 5
- The Huskies combined to hit 29 total 3-pointers in two games against PC, most against one opponent in two regular season games in UConn history
- The previous high was 28, set against Xavier in 2023-24 and USF in 2016-17
- UConn last hit double-digit 3-pointers against the same team twice in the same regular season in 2023-24 when it did so against Marquette and Xavier
- The 16-game winning streak is the third-longest single-season streak in program history, trailing only a 19-game streak in 1998-99 and a 23-game run in 1995-96
- UConn's 10-0 start to BIG EAST play is its best since opening 11-0 in '98-99 and four shy of the 14-0 start in '95-96
Up Next
The Huskies return to action on the road on Saturday night when they visit Omaha for a showdown with Creighton.
