No. 4 UConn Tops New Haven In Season Opener

STORRS – The No. 4 UConn males’s basketball group (1-0) opened its 2025-26 marketing campaign with a 77-59  win over New Haven (0-1) on Monday evening within the season opener at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion. It marked Connecticut’s first all-time assembly with New Haven and the Division 1 debut for the Chargers. Alex Karaban led 4 Connecticut scorers in double-figures with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double within the triumph.

The Huskies took an early lead and by no means relented however did not fairly pull utterly away till late within the second half in opposition to a really recreation Charger squad. Solo Ball joined Karaban atop the scoresheet with 18 factors and grabbed 5 rebounds, whereas Jaylin Stewart scored 11 with eight caroms and Silas Demary Jr. added 10 factors, 5 rebounds and two assists. For New Haven, large man Andre Pasha led the way in which with 17 factors and 6 rebounds.

How it Happened

The Huskies scored the primary two baskets of the competition and have been off and working, taking a 10-3 lead forward of the primary media timeout with a Eric Reibe flush. The Chargers used a 3:30 subject aim drought from the Huskies to drag briefly inside two, earlier than a Karaban 3-pointer at 13:14 gave the Huskies a 14-9 edge.

The triple spurred an 11-2 run, with the Huskies taking their first double-digit lead by means of an Alec Millender 3-pointer in transition at 7:47 that made it 22-11 in favor of Connecticut. A pair of late triples from Ball and Karaban on the finish of the primary gave the Huskies a 37-24 edge on the break regardless of a gradual capturing begin.

Back-to-back buckets inside from Demary Jr. and Stewart at the beginning of the second half gave UConn its largest lead of the day, 45-28, and prompted a UNH timeout with 17:35 to go. The Chargers responded with the subsequent seven factors after the cease to get again inside 10, however Ball shortly stopped the surge with six-straight in a 9-0 run that made it 54-35 with 13:40 to play.

The Chargers continued to stay round and have been inside 13 earlier than an electrical sequence that includes a Stewart block and help on a Ball triple. After a cease a driving Demary Jr. lay-in made it 59-41 and triggered UNH’s fourth timeout with 10:27 to play.

At 6:07 of the second, Karaban rattled dwelling his third 3-pointer of the evening to present UConn its first lead over 20 at 67-46. New Haven once more battled again to inside 15 earlier than the Huskies ran off a 9-0 run to shut regulation and push the ultimate margin to 24.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn shot 48.2 p.c (27-56) from the sector, 34.8 p.c (8-23) from downtown and 85.0 p.c (17-20) from the free throw line
• Conversely, UNH completed with a 44.2 p.c (23-52) mark from the sector however linked at a 21.4 p.c (3-14) clip from deep and 42.9 p.c (6-14) from the road
• The Huskies have been +15 on the glass, out-rebounding UNH 40-25
  • The benefit on the backboard led to a 36-30 edge in factors within the paint
  • UConn additionally completed with a 13-2 edge in second probability factors because of a 10-4 lead in offensive rebounds

• Karaban scored a game-high 19 factors on 6-of-10 capturing from the ground, a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point vary and a 4-for-4 day from the road
• UConn had an uncharacteristic 11 assists on 27 made subject objectives, with Malachi Smith allotting a team-high 4 in his UConn debut
• The Huskies completed with a 9-7 edge in steals, getting a game-high three swipes from Dwayne Koroma

News and Notes

• UConn improves to 93-30 all-time in season openers and 8-0 below Dan Hurley
• Hurley is now 15-1 as a collegiate head coach within the first recreation of a season
• Monday evening marked the official UConn debut of Demary Jr., Smith, Reibe, Millender and Koroma
• UConn has bought out 24-straight video games at Gampel Pavilion, a streak that started on Dec. 1, 2022
• Karaban now has 1,369 profession factors, shifting previous Toby Kimball (1,361) for 26^th in program historical past
• With a 4-4 day from the road Karaban improved his profession free throw proportion to 84.4 p.c, passing Albert Mouring (84.2 p.c) for fourth in UConn historical past

Up Next

The Huskies make their common season Hartford debut on Friday, Nov. 7 after they host UMass Lowell at PeoplesBank Arena for a 7 p.m. tip on Peacock.