Braylon Mullins entered the Big East Tournament Semifinals three for his last 20 from beyond the arc. When a player hits a shooting slump, the age old saying goes: keep shooting.
Mullins did keep shooting the three ball. It didn’t work. With his best bullet jammed, the freshman was to find other ways to score when No. 2-seed UConn took on No. 11-seed Georgetown with a trip to the tournament championship on the line.
21 points from Mullins catapulted the Huskies (28-4, 17-3) offense to a 67-51 victory on Friday night.
Mullins utilized an array of pull up mid ranges, and a flashy double-clutch layup, to steady the Huskies offense in the first half amidst a 2-for-12 team start from three. Mullins spot shooting was invaluable, but was not what Head Coach Dan Hurley had in mind ahead of the game.
“Coach was on us — he didn’t want a lot of 17‑foot mid‑range shots,” Mullins said. “I’m happy my first two went in. It could’ve been a long night if I took those and they weren’t going in.”
He continued to find ways to score, despite finishing the game 2-for-9 from three. The Huskies were without a free throw attempt until the 6:20 mark in the second half. That’s when Mullins took the ball to the cup and drew the first shooting foul from the Hoyas (16-17, 6-14) of the night. He sank both free throws before knocking another down in the last two minutes of the game.
Mullins became the first UConn freshman to score 20 points in a Big East Tournament game since Jerome Dyson in 2007 against Syracuse. Dyson also ended that game with 21 points.
“That first shot is what it is. I came down, made my next two, and that got me into a flow in the first half,” Mullins said. “I was making difficult shots, and we took that into the second half.”
The victory advanced the Huskies to the tournament championship for the 12th time in program history. It is their second time making the final under Hurley. UConn is 8-3 in Big East Tournament Championship games.
“This is why you choose to come to UConn. You want to be in these big-time games to win championships,” Hurley said.
Tarris Reed Jr. was on his way to stuffing the stat sheet in the first half. He had already secured four points, five rebounds, and five assists when he entered the tunnel at the break.
But as has been an issue throughout the season, Reed found himself unable to stay on the court due to foul trouble. Three second half fouls limited Reed to just 11 minutes after the intermission. Eric Reibe picked up some of the offensive slackin absence of the Huskies’ starting center with six second half points before fouling out of the game.
UConn still managed to dominate the backboard with its center tandem in disarray. Credit Silas Demary Jr. pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Reed was not far behind with seven.
The Huskies’ starting center and point guard seemingly swapped roles for the evening. While Demary controlled the backboard, Reed was running the floor. Reed set a career high in assists with nine, eclipsing his previous best of seven that he set on Feb. 11 against Butler.
“Tarris has all types of things to his game,” Mullins said. “If he needs to go get a bucket in the paint, he’ll go get a bucket. If he can pass like that every game, we’re closing out people.”
The Huskies reeled in their three-point shooting in the second half after the abysmal start. Mullins, Demary and Solo Ball all buried three-pointers in the first eight minutes after halftime. Jayden Ross hit the next two for UConn, with the second forcing Ed Cooley to call a timeout with seven minutes to go in the game.
A 5-for-10 second half from three bumped the Huskies up to 32% overall.
UConn’s bench posted 20 total points after a 24-point outing on Thursday against Xavier. The bench was ranked No. 279 across all Division I in points scored per game prior to the tournament but has stepped up in the first two games of postseason play.
Malachi Smith dished out a game-high nine assists in addition to his five points off the bench. The backup point guard has a knack for showing up in the World’s Most Famous Arena.
Smith was +14 against the Musketeers where he totaled six points on two three points. His first half minutes in that game were integral with Demary sidelined with two early fouls.
He previously put together standout performances against Flordia and Illinois in during non-conference schedule
Georgetown couldn’t recapture the shot making that propelled them past Villanova during its upset win in the quarter final. The Hoyas shot 40% from three in that game and were north of 50% from the floor.
They followed that performance by making just 12% of their threes against the Huskies. Malik Mack and Kayvaun Mulready each knocked down a trifecta of threes on Thursday but couldn’t get one to drop in the tournament’s penultimate game.
The Huskies have earned themselves a red-hot date on Saturday night with the defending Big East Tournament champions, St. John’s. UConn pulled out a 32-point win the last time these conference foes clashed in February.
“I feel like it’s kind of like their home court, so expect them to come out to play hard and try to make as many plays as they can,” Hurley said. “We just gotta prepare, get back to the hotel, recover, watch film, and just do what we need to do to be ready for tomorrow.”
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be available to watch on Fox.