HARTFORD – The No. 25 UConn men's basketball team (15-6, 7-3 BIG EAST) rallied from a halftime deficit to top DePaul (10-12, 1-10 BIG EAST) by a score of 72-61 on Wednesday night at the XL Center. UConn was down as many as 14 in the first half before storming back with a huge second frame.

UConn out-scored DePaul by 19 in the second half, holding the Blue Demons to 30 percent shooting after the break. Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. tied for the Husky high with 16 points apiece, while Jaylin Stewart added 15. Aidan Mahaney was the fourth Husky in double-figures with 10 off the bench. Star Alex Karaban struggled with his shot but mustered eight points, a career-high eight assists and six rebounds in the win.  

The triumph was UConn's 20^th straight against DePaul and concluded the regular season series with the Blue Demons. Layden Blocker led DPU with 18 points and CJ Gunn added 14.

How it Happened

The Blue Demons opened the aggressor, jumping out to a 10-4 lead ahead of the game's first media timeout. DePaul extended its early advantage to double-digits at 18-8, prompting a UConn timeout at 11:31 of the opening stanza.

DePaul would stretch its early advantage to as many as 14 in the first, taking advantage of an ice-cold shooting start for the Huskies. UConn trailed 37-29 at the break after starting the game 6-of-23 from the floor and 0-of-10 from 3-point range. Mahaney scored eight in the first frame off the bench to help keep the Huskies close.

UConn came out charged up for the second half, scoring the first five of the frame after a Ball rejection and transition 3-pointer prompted a DePaul timeout less than 90 seconds into the second with the Huskies back within three at 37-34. At 13:21 UConn pulled even for the first time since the contest began, using a pair of Stewart triples to help level the contest at 44-all.

Midway through the second UConn took its first lead of the day, going up 51-50 at 9:37 after Ball converted a three-point play. Less than a minute later Ball one-upped himself, drilling a 3-pointer and drawing contact to complete a four-point play that put the Huskies up 57-50 and forced a DPU timeout with 8:16 to play.

The Huskies would ultimately turn in a 14-0 run, holding DPU scoreless for nearly four minutes to completely flip the script and take their largest lead of the day at 62-50. The Blue Demons pulled within eight inside of the final three minutes, but a Reed Jr. bucket inside at 1:52 made it 68-58 and the Huskies closed from there.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn shot 43.6 percent (24-55) for the game and was 7-of-22 (31.8) from 3-point range, holding DePaul to 42.0 percent and 28.6 percent marks
  • After UConn's ice cold start going 6-23 from the floor and 1-10 from distance, UConn shot 56.2 percent from the floor and went 7-of-12 from downtown the rest of the way
  • DePaul shot 50.0 percent (15-30) in the first half, but UConn held the Blue Demons to 6-of-20 shooting (30.0 percent) in the second half
• UConn finished with 18 assists on 24 field goals
  • Karaban led the Huskies with his career-high eight assists against no turnovers
  • As a team UConn held an 18:6 (3.0) assist/turnover ratio – they entered the contest top-five nationally at 1.87
• DePaul held a slim 33-31 edge on the glass, with UConn getting game-highs of six rebounds apiece from Karaban and Reed Jr.
• UConn turned a +6 turnover margin into a 15-7 edge in points off miscues
• The Huskies finished 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) from the free throw line, going a perfect 14-of-14 in the second half

News and Notes

• UConn is 21-1 all-time against DePaul and has won the last 20 meetings
• The Huskies have won 16-straight games at the XL Center
• Stewart scored in double-figures for the sixth time this season, including the fourth in eight starts – he had only one double-figure scoring game as a freshman last year
• The eight assists for Karaban set a new career-high, topping his previous best of seven set in the season opener on Nov. 6
• Karaban now has 1,166 points at UConn, moving past Tony Robertson (1,160 from 1999-2003) into 41^st place in program history
• The comeback from 14 down is tied for the largest deficit overcome in a win this season, also rallying from the margin against Providence on Jan. 5
• The Huskies improve to 4-3 on the year when trailing at the half

Up Next

The Huskies hit the road for a Top-25 showdown at No. 9 Marquette on Saturday night.