University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
21-1,11-0Big East
Creighton
12-10,6-5Big East
No. 2 Huskies Win 17th-Straight With Big Win in Omaha
1/31/2026 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Box Score Attached
Dan Hurley, Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins Postgame
OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 2 UConn men's basketball team (21-1, 11-0 BIG EAST) won its 17th straight and continued its perfect BIG EAST start with a convincing 85-58 victory at Creighton (12-10, 6-5 BIG EAST) on Saturday night at the CHI Health Center Omaha. The Huskies used huge runs late in the first half and early in the second and knocked down 16 3-pointers to secure their second-straight win in Omaha. Â
Four Huskies finished in double-figures and five hit multiple 3-pointers in the triumph, as Connecticut shot a pristine 54.1 percent (33-61) from the field and 51.6 percent (16-31) from three. Braylon Mullins returned from a one-game injury absence to score a team-best 16 points, connecting on 4-of-8 from deep. Â Silas Demary Jr. added 15 points and stuffed the stat sheet with five assists and six rebounds, while Alex Karaban also chipped in 15 points and six boards while climbing into the top-15 on UConn's all-time scoring list. Solo Ball scored 11 and hit a trio of triples while Tarris Reed Jr. scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting and grabbed five rebounds with a block.
The 27-point margin of victory was UConn's largest against a BIG EAST foe and versus any high major opponent this season. Creighton entered the day No. 69 in the NET rankings, making the win UConn's sixth Quad 1 victory and its 13th against Q1+Q2. The Huskies are a perfect 7-0 on the road this season and 10-0 away from home.
How it Happened
The Huskies came out firing from three, getting a pair of early triples each from Mullins and Ball to take a 12-8 lead before the first media stoppage at 15:06. The Huskies held a slim advantage until CU pulled back ahead by one at 10:36. Minutes later with the game tied and the Omaha faithful in a frenzy, Karaban drilled a deep 3-pointer before a timeout at 6:39 with the Huskies holding a 25-22 edge.
After CU tied the game at 27-all with a jumper at 4:41, the Huskies held the Bluejays without a field goal for the remainder of the half and took advantage with a prolonged 14-3 run. At 2:00 Reed Jr. came up with a ferocious put-back slam, and another 3-pointer from Ball gave UConn its largest lead of the day at 36-28 with a hair over a minute to play in the first. In the dying moments of the opening stanza, Demary Jr. dialed up UConn's eighth trifecta of the frame to give the Huskies their first double digit advantage up 41-30 going into the break. Â The Huskies went 8-of-15 from downtown and out-rebounded the Bluejays 21-10 in the opening stanza.
Mullins opened the second half for UConn with another triple, and after a pair of Karaban buckets in the paint the Huskies held their largest lead up 48-34 with 17:06 on the timer. Later in the frame after CU pulled back within 10, Connecticut ripped off a ferocious 12-2 run that featured 3-pointers from Karaban and Malachi Smith, the latter forcing a Creighton timeout at 12:44 with the Huskies holding a 60-40 advantage.
A minute later a Karaban stick-back pushed the prolonged run to 14-2 and shorter spurt to a 10-0 'kill shot' that had the Huskies up 22. The Huskies took advantage of a five-plus minute field goal drought for the Bluejays and extended the lead, using 3-pointers from Demary Jr. and Jayden Ross to go up 72-45 before a timeout on the floor with 7:03 to play.
The Huskies pushed the lead to as many as 30 as the second half dwindled and all that was left to determine was the final margin. UConn held Creighton 0-of-11 from three in the dominant second half after a 5-of-10 start and out-scored the Bluejays 44-28 after the break.
Inside The Numbers
- UConn shot 33-of-61 (54.1 percent) from the field and were 16-of-31 (51.6 percent) from 3-point range, while Creighton shot 18-of-44 (40.9 percent) from the field and 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) from distance
- UConn's 16 makes from 3-point range are tied with 16 vs. USF on 2/8/17 for fourth-most in a game in program history and third-most in a game in regulation, trailing only the 17 triples against Xavier on 1/28/24 and vs. Oregon on 11/24/22 in regulation and the 18 hit at Providence on Jan. 7 for most in any game
- The Huskies hit double-digit 3-pointers for the sixth time this season and fourth time in BIG EAST play, now doing so in back-to-back games for the first time in 2025-26
- The 54.1 percent effort was UConn's third-best vs. a high major this seaosn
- UConn dominated on the glass and out-rebounded Creighton 37-24
- Demary Jr. and Karaban led the balanced effort on the glass with six boards apiece, while Reed Jr. and Eric Reibe had five apiece and Ball grabbed four
- The Huskies turned 13 offensive rebounds into a 23-8 edge in second chance points
- The Huskies out-scored CU 20-16 in bench points, with the UConn reserves hitting 20 for the ninth time this season
News and Notes
- The Huskies improve to 4-9 all-time against Creighton and 2-4 in Omaha
- The 27-point victory was the largest margin for either side in the history of the series and only the third game out of 13 to finish with a double-digit margin
- Karaban continued his climb up the UConn record book
- He now has 1,652 career points – passing Donyell Marshall (1,648) and Khalid El-Amin (1,650) to move into 14th on the all-time scoring list
- He made his 132nd career start, three behind Jake Voskuhl's program record of 135
- With two triples he now has 257 career 3-pointers, three back of Shabazz Napier (260) for third in UConn history
- The win was Karaban's 113th in a UConn uniform – he is two away from tying teammate Samson Johnson for the program's win record
- UConn is 7-0 on the road this season and 10-0 away from home – it last started a season with seven road wins in 2008-09 when it won its first nine
- The Huskies' 11-0 start to BIG EAST play is tied for its second-best all-time, matching the mark set in 1998-99 and three shy of the record set in 1995-96
- Connecticut finished a perfect 8-0 in its favorite month of January
- The Huskies are 17-3 in January since 2024
- UConn improves to 33-11 in January since 1/1/21, best in the conference
Up Next
The Huskies return home on Tuesday, Feb. 3 to take on Xavier in Hartford.
