HARTFORD — Itching to be in the center of the UConn huddle, sophomore forward Nik Khamenia spent every timeout rolling back and forth from the bench on his scooter with a walking boot on his injured foot. Having injured his left foot in the win against Wagner on Nov. 9, Khamenia is set to undergo surgery and will be reevaluated in six to eight weeks.
With Khamenia out, it meant bigger opportunities for others. Braylon Mullins answered the call on Friday night with a team-high 22 points as the No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team took down the Ohio State Buckeyes 84-68. Although the Huskies won by a comfortable 16 points, the game was all square at 52 with 15:00 to play in the second half. The Huskies closed out the game on a 32-to-16 scoring run.
Colben Landrew earned the starting nod in place of Khamenia. The star-studded freshman finished the night with 12 points and four rebounds in 32 minutes.
“Ever since he came here, he’s left us impressed so far,” Silas Demary Jr. said. “I think Colben being able to step into that starting lineup and he keeps us flowing. I think Colben stepped in and gave us some big-time rebounds and got some big-time stops on the defensive end.”
Foul trouble this season has been catered strictly to the big men, but that wasn’t the case on Friday night. With Demary picking up early foul trouble in the first half, fellow freshman Junior County saw extended minutes. By the end of the night, Demary and County each had four fouls, and Mullins had three.
“Silas is the quarterback. He is the engine, and I thought Junior gave us great, great minutes,” said Dan Hurley. “Junior’s so good defensively, he had a big three in the first half, a huge baseline drive in the second half; I’d love to see him attacking the rim that.”
Despite his foul trouble, County filled the stat sheet with five points, four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
“I feel like Junior’s just a freshman that came into the moment always being ready,” Demary said. “Ever since he’s been here in June, he’s showing progress; he’s shown maturity. When he steps in, I have no doubt in my mind he’s going to play to the best of his ability.”
Fellow freshman Egor Amosov played for just three minutes yet delivered the highlight of the night. Approaching the four-minute mark in the first half, Braylon Mullins launched a deep three-pointer late in the shot clock that hit only the backboard. Amosov tracked down the offensive rebound with three seconds left and dribbled back out beyond the arc, thinking the shot
clock had reset. As the entire crowd yelled at him to shoot with two seconds remaining, Amosov spun around and sank a fading corner three to put Connecticut up by 14.
Amosov was mobbed by his teammates at the next dead ball, which was Amosov’s “Welcome to UConn” moment.
“That’s nothing. I feel like we’ve seen that a bunch of times in practice,” Demary said when asked his reaction to the shot. “He’s done that probably five or six times in practice this year so far. I was glad to see him hit that shot and give him some confidence.”