University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
27-4,17-3Big East
Marquette
12-19,7-13Big East
No. 4 UConn Drops Regular Season Finale
3/7/2026 4:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MILWAUKEE -Â The No. 4 UConn men's basketball team (27-4, 17-3 BIG EAST) concluded the regular season with a 68-62 setback at Marquette (12-19, 7-13 BIG EAST) on Saturday afternoon at the Fiserv Forum.Â
The Huskies were felled by an ice-cold shooting day from 3-point range and turnover struggles, finishing 3-of-24 from three and coughing it up 16 times. Marquette used a big second half run to erase a slim halftime lead for the Huskies and snap UConn's six-game winning streak in the series.Â
Tarris Reed Jr. posted his third-straight double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Silas Demary Jr. had 17 points and a game-high eight assists. They finished as the lone Huskies in double-figures. For MU, Nigel James Jr. scored a game-high 19 points with seven assists to lead four in double-figures.Â
How it Happened
UConn scored the game's first two buckets and went up 9-5 with a Solo Ball 3-pointer at 16:48. Later in the frame a 7-0 run during a five-plus minute UConn scoring drought allowed Marquette to take a 14-11 lead with a three-point play at 11:41. Alex Karaban broke the run with a pair of free throws, and UConn re-took the lead with a Reed Jr. jumper at 9:03.Â
In five minutes from 7:57 to 2:59 UConn peeled off a prolonged 10-3 stretch and took its largest lead with two Jayden Ross freebies to go up 31-23. The Huskies went on to take a 35-33 lead to the half despite a 1-of-10 start from three thanks to 10 points apiece from Demary Jr. and Reed Jr. along with a 23-9 edge on the glass in the opening stanza.Â
The second half started with back-to-back buckets from Reed Jr., but a 6-0 mini-run for MU tied it back up before a Ball three at 17:17. With the Huskies ahead by four minutes later, MU's Royce Parham went on an 8-0 personal run with two 3-pointers and a floater to give the Golden Eagles a 49-45 lead and trigger a UConn timeout at 13:19.Â
MU extended the run to 11-0 after the stoppage to build their largest lead of the day at 52-45. At the penultimate media timeout with 7:33 to play the Golden Eagles had built their lead to 55-47, taking advantage of a seven-plus minute field goal drought for the Huskies.
Jayden Ross snapped the field goal drought with a put-back dunk after the timeout. Marquette kept coming, and back-to-back 3-pointers swelled the lead to 61-49 and led to another UConn timeout with 5:21 to go. The Huskies got back within two possessions late and another Ross stick-back cut the margin to 64-60 before a timeout with 1:22 on the timer.Â
The Huskies got a stop on MU's next trip, and a pair of Reed Jr. free throws had them within two with under a minute to play. After another stop the Huskies got it back with no timeouts and a chance to tie, but Demary Jr.'s last second driving shot was off-line and Marquette was able to salt away the win from the line.
Inside The Numbers
- The Huskies struggled to the tune of a 35.6 percent (21-59) performance from the field and shot a dismal 12.5 percent (3-24) from downtown while going 17-18 (94.4) at the line
- Conversely, Marquette shot at a 47.9 percent clip (23-48) and was 8-of-21 from downtown (38.1 percent)
- UConn recorded 16 assists on 21 field goals
- Demary Jr. finished with a team-high eight helpers and concludes the 20-game BIG EAST season averaging 7.4 per game, best in the conference
- The Huskies finished with a 40-25 rebounding edge and used 16 offensive rebounds to out-score the Golden Eagles 15-2 in second chance points
- UConn also finished with a 34-26 advantage in the paint and a 10-4 lead in bench scoring
News and Notes
- UConn falls to 14-9 all-time against Marquette and sees its six-game winning streak in the series snappedÂ
- Karaban continued to climb in UConn's all-time record book
- Extended his program record with his 141st start
- Appeared in his 142nd overall game, one shy of tying Shabazz Napier's program record of 143
- Played the full 40 for the second-straight game and has played 4,592 minutes, 32 shy of Napier's program record 4,614
- Has 1,754 career points, trailing Kemba Walker (1,783) for ninth and Ryan Boatright (1,786) for eighth
- UConn suffered its first loss when leading at the half after winning its first 23 such contests this year
- It was also Connecticut's first defeat this season when out-rebounding a foe, it was 21-0 when doing so prior
- Reed Jr. notched his third-straight double-double, the ninth of his season
