On Monday night, the No. 3 UConn men’s basketball team (3-0) closed out the “Super Bowl” game of its unlisted multi-team event (MTE) with an 89-62 win over the Columbia Lions (1-1).
The Huskies continued to flourish on offense, exposing Columbia’s weakness in the transition game. Connecticut shot 56.6% from the field, but the 3-point shooting is where UConn excelled the most, knocking down 10 shots from deep. At halftime, the Huskies matched their total from the New Haven game in 3-pointers made, splashing eight from downtown.
Alex Karaban may have seen an uptick in his statistical averages last season in comparison to the magical 2023-24 run, but he looked inconsistent at times. However, the two-time NCAA champion is off to a hot start to the 2025-26 season. After eclipsing at least 16 points in each of the last two games, Karaban was efficient with 20 points on 7-11 shooting, including a 2-5 effort from deep. It was the Southborough, Mass. native’s 16th 20-point game of his career.
Jayden Ross had his coming-out party in the first half, scoring 10 points on an efficient 3-3 shooting. After struggling to hit his sky-high ceiling, it seems like the Bristow, Va. native has found a spark off the bench this season. In the first half alone, the 2024 NCAA champion set a new career-high in 3-pointers made with three.
“That’s what you’re looking for from your wings,” Hurley said. “We need [him and Jaylin Stewart] to both play well in the same game. Jaylin Stewart was really good the other night, and he wasn’t good tonight. He wasn’t sharp…We’ll be a great team when everyone shows up every night.”
Ross and Karaban were not the only Huskies to reach double digits in scoring. Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. scored 23 and 19 points, respectively, with the latter seeing an increase in his minutes restriction with 25 minutes played.
“[Reed is] out of the minutes restriction,” Hurley said. “I thought he was just so impactful defensively in the first half, and then just super efficient whenever we threw him the ball.”
All offseason long, UConn fans marveled at the comparisons between two-time NCAA champion Tristen Newton and Georgia transfer guard Silas Demary Jr. The comparisons were striking, as Demary scratched the surface of the comparison with 5 points, a career-high nine assists and six rebounds.
“That was a little bit like a Tristen [Newton] type of game where it was like, bordering on double-figure assists, six rebounds—so flirting, with a couple more, with maybe double-figures in both,” Hurley said, who emphasized that Demary needs to be the team’s “quarterback”. “I mean, this is what we brought him in to do.”
The Huskies were not just a lethal offensive team on Monday night. The defense stood out as well, led by Reed, who had three steals, two blocks and six defensive rebounds. Overall, Connecticut had nine steals and seven blocks while forcing 13 turnovers for Columbia.
We always look for great shots out there, and we trust the offense that we run. We’ve got to continue that great assist-to-turnover ratio and just build on it.
Alex Karaban, UConn Men’s Basketball Forward
“The defensive intensity we had in that first half really just propelled us on offense,” Ball said. “We were getting stops; we were getting out in transition, open threes. That’s the way we want to play.
Columbia climbed within 19 points in the second half as UConn took its foot off the gas and made just 10 field goals after going into the locker room shooting 60.6% overall and making 20 shots.
The second half itself was nothing compared to the first 20 minutes, and it is not the right momentum to rely on with the heart of the non-conference schedule coming up.
The one “alarming” flaw for Connecticut that Hurley noted was the rebounding game. He was right to call out the rebounding efforts, as the Huskies only outrebounded Columbia, 34-32. On the bright side, the Huskies shared the ball well for the second consecutive game with 22 assists on 30 made shots on just six turnovers.
“That’s what we do at UConn,” Karaban said. “Share the ball, be unselfish and play together. We always look for great shots out there, and we trust the offense that we run. We’ve got to continue that great assist-to-turnover ratio and just build on it.”
UConn improves to 10-2 against Columbia, with a more convincing win than the last meeting, which came on Nov. 29, 2017, in a 77-73 overtime win at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. It was Dan Hurley’s first win over the Lions, coming into Monday night with a 0-1 record.
The Huskies will ship up to Boston to take on No. 7 BYU on Saturday night, the first major test of the Huskies’ gauntlet non-conference schedule.