The first test of the No. 3 UConn men’s basketball (3-0) team’s loaded non-conference schedule has arrived. The Huskies will ship up to the TD Garden in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 15, to take on the No. 7 BYU Cougars (3-0).
It will be a homecoming for Southborough, Mass., native Alex Karaban, who grew up roughly 27 miles outside the city. The two-time NCAA champion has been excellent in Connecticut’s first three games of the regular season, averaging 17.3 points (96th percentile nationally), six rebounds and 2.7 assists (93rd percentile) on shooting splits of 58.1% from the field, 53.3% from 3-point range (88th percentile) and 88.9% from the free-throw line. While three games are a small sample, Karaban has hit the ground running in his final season with the program.
UConn comes into Saturday night after two impressive performances against UMass Lowell and Columbia. On Monday night, the Huskies defeated Columbia, 89-62, led by a 23-point performance from Solo Ball, who shot 7-15 from the field. Karaban had the best overall performance with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists on 7-11 shooting.
Ball is the team’s leading scorer through three games, averaging 18.3 points per game (94th percentile).
While three games are a small sample size, Connecticut is one of the top teams on both ends of the court. According to KenPom, UConn boasts the No. 4 and No. 12 offenses and defenses, respectively, in terms of efficiency. The Huskies’ true shooting percentage stands out in advanced analytics (66.4%, 96th percentile). After a lot of struggles on the defensive end of the court last season, each of UConn’s advanced defensive analytic categories ranked in at least the 90th percentile.
BYU also has a star forward from the Boston area, as Brockton native AJ Dybantsa comes in as one of the best freshmen in the country and a popular pick to go No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. Dybantsa comes into the game averaging 18.7 points (97th percentile), seven rebounds (85th percentile) and 2.7 assists per game (93rd percentile) on 57.5% shooting from the floor. He spoke to the media about his ties to the Boston area, including his time at St. Sebastian’s School in Needham.
“It was just great,” Dybantsa said of his time at St. Sebastian’s School. “That’s why I did my reclass year, my ninth-grade year. Went to go play in the ISL, get some better competition. Team-based, though, I had Trevor Mullin on my team. He’s at Yale… I just made a lot of friends, [that] I’m still friends with right now.”
The Cougars have been more battle-tested up to this point, defeating North Carolina, 78-76, in an exhibition on Oct. 24 and opening the regular season with a 71-66 win over Villanova in Las Vegas.
The last time out for BYU was not pretty. On Tuesday, the Cougars trailed at the midway point against a winless Delaware team, using a second-half surge to defeat the Blue Hens, 85-68.
They were led by a huge performance from Baylor transfer Robert Wright III, who finished with 26 points, nine assists and nine rebounds on 9-17 overall shooting and 4-7 from deep. UConn is familiar with Wright’s game, as he dropped 22 points off the bench last season in a 76-72 UConn win over Baylor.
Richie Saunders completes the starting backcourt, making him and Wright one of the most lethal guard duos in college basketball. Saunders was pivotal in BYU’s second-half surge, scoring 20 of his season-high 26 points while recording 10 rebounds for his second double-double in his career. In the second half alone, the Riverton, Utah native knocked down six 3-pointers.
Dybantsa was the third player in double figures on Tuesday, Nov. 11, scoring 18 points while pulling down seven rebounds and two assists.
“When you watch clips of BYU and AJ [Dybantsa] and [Richie] Saunders, they got one of the best point guards in the country,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said after the win over Columbia. “When you see that quality on film, you get scared straight. Things that worked the first three games won’t work.”
So far this season, BYU is shooting 48.7% from the field, 32.4% from downtown (177th in the country) and 76.9% from the free-throw line. According to KenPom, BYU’s offense is rated No. 7 in the country in terms of adjusted efficiency, with one of the lowest turnover percentages nationally (8.5%, fourth-best in the nation).
Saturday night will feature two top 10 offenses, with a lot of pressure coming on BYU’s defense, which ranks 55th in the country.
BYU is just the first of many premier non-conference opponents that Connecticut will face; they still have No. 5 Arizona (Nov. 19), No. 14 Illinois (Nov. 23), No. 25 Kansas (Dec. 2), No. 10 Florida (Dec. 9) and Texas (Dec. 12) on the horizon.
“This time of year, people are challenging themselves in these non-conference games, and it’s a good barometer for where you’re at,” Hurley said. “I think you have a pretty good sense where you’re vulnerable, but it’s really going to expose vulnerabilities.”
It will be the first time the two programs have met since a 58-53 win during the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
Since the 2018-19 season, UConn is 3-4 against the Big 12, with all three wins since the 2022-23 season. Overall, Connecticut is 13-14 against Big 12 opponents.
Tip-off from TD Garden in Boston is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised on FOX.