Men’s Basketball: Demary records triple-double in No. 3 Huskies 72-49 win over Bryant 

The No. 3 UConn men’s basketball team (5-1) bounced back after its loss to Arizona with a 72-49 win over the Bryant Bulldogs (1-5) at the PeoplesBank Arena on Sunday night.  

Silas Demary Jr. recorded UConn’s first triple-double since Tristen Newton—a player Demary had been compared to—recorded a 10-point, 16-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double against Villanova on Feb. 24, 2024. The former Georgia Bulldog finished the game with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Three of the last four seasons and four of the previous six seasons that UConn scored a triple-double; the team ended up winning the national championship.  

“That’s what we need from him,” Dan Hurley said. “We’ve been a dominant rebounding team up until last year, and a lot of that had to do with [the fact that] we had great guard rebounders…He’s got to be the quarterback, and he’s got a lot of weapons on the court.”  

Tarris Reed Jr. was out for the second consecutive game with a high-ankle sprain, while Braylon Mullins (ankle sprain) was ruled out again but did warm up and seemed to be closer to action.  

“Bray had his first live day yesterday,” Hurley said, noting he played one-on-one against Andrew Hurley and Rich Kelly. “It was great to see him out there…He’s close. He’ll be in practice all week, and it’ll be a game-time decision.”  

He also mentioned Reed would be a game-time decision and that he feels great and is recovering well from his ankle sprain.  

In place of Reed again was Eric Reibe. His development has been huge this season for the Huskies as he led the team in scoring with 15 points and six rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting.  

“This guy is going to be so great here,” Hurley said. “What [his development] is doing for the team and the depth and what we’re going to have at center when we get Tarris back is, I think it’s going to make us so much stronger.”  

Jacob Furphy made his regular-season debut after missing part of the season with an ankle injury and did not play in the past few games due to a coach’s decision. He did not make much of an impact, only playing seven minutes, but he did score his first career basket with 1:10 remaining in the game.  

UConn was solid at sharing the ball throughout the game, with 17 assists on 25 made baskets. The Huskies came into the game with 62.3% of their baskets made coming off assists, and that did not change on Sunday night.  

“I think we easily could have walked out of there with 24 assists if we could just make a shot,” Hurley said. “I just don’t think we’re seeing everything right now, but I think we’re gonna get there with just these players playing in our system.”  

After just five shot attempts against Arizona on Wednesday, Alex Karaban’s struggles continued against Bryant, finishing with a stat line of 5 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 2-of-10 shooting, including a 1-of-7 mark from downtown. With two massive games coming up, production must be elevated for the two-time national champion.  

“I actually like when players aren’t shooting well [in these games], [but] not while it’s happening,” Hurley said. “But in my mind, it’s like shooters say, ‘All right, I got this bad shooting game, or I got this bad shooting stretch out of the way, and then we’re about to go on a heater.”  

Solo Ball was quiet as well, scoring 8 points on 3-of-11 shooting. The momentum for the Huskies’ stars is invisible as the heart of the non-conference schedule awaits.  

“The [coaching] staff’s got to get with these guys,” Hurley said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re mechanically not overdoing it in terms of the coaching and just building up their confidence…They’re getting great shots, and they’re two of the best shooters that the program has seen.”  

Remember the New Haven game and how low-quality that was to watch? This game matched its quality level with a 23-point margin of victory (the Huskies were 36.5-point favorites), shooting 39.1% from the floor and just five 3-pointers.  

“Hopefully, as the schedule is about to shift, we’ll get some of these guys, big-time shooters, going,” Hurley said.  

Despite how hard that game was to watch, it was still a win for Connecticut; a game the Huskies led wire-to-wire. That improved its record in its series against Bryant to 3-0, with all three meetings coming since 2008.  

UConn’s level of play must elevate as the Huskies play No. 8 Illinois in New York City on Black Friday.