CHICAGO – A career day from Solo Ball and an impressive perimeter effort led the No. 11 UConn men's basketball team (11-3, 3-0 BIG EAST) to its seventh-straight win, 81-68, over DePaul (9-5, 0-3) on Wednesday afternoon in a New Year's Day matinee at Wintrust Arena. Ball posted career-highs of 22 points of six rebounds and was 7-of-9 from 3-point range.
The Huskies dominated the 3-point line in the win, with Ball hitting half of their 14 triples while holding DePaul to three makes – nearly nine off their season average. Alex Karaban scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to join Ball atop the scoresheet, while Hassan Diarra dished out a game-high nine assists along with seven points against one turnover. Samson Johnson was the third Husky in double-figures with 10 points along with three rebounds, two blocks and a career-best four assists.
Liam McNeeley finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists but was limited to 25 minutes after exiting with an injury midway through the second half. For DePaul, Connor Enright had 18 points and nine assists while NJ Benson posted a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.
How it Happened
UConn was the aggressor from the jump, taking an early 8-2 lead with a Karaban 3-pointer at 16:48. Midway through the first a Tarris Reed Jr. swat led to a transition 3-pointer from McNeeley and gave the Huskies their first double-digit advantage of the day. That was part of a 9-3 run that pushed the lead to 25-13 and forced a DePaul timeout at 7:42 of the first half.
In in the final 3:15 of the first half Ball went on a personal tear – hitting four straight 3-pointers to turn what was a 10-point game late in the first into a 21-point halftime advantage for the Huskies. UConn took a 43-22 lead to the locker room, holding DePaul to 26.9 percent shooting and hitting eight 3-pointers in the opening 20.
The Blue Demons came out sharp in the second half and trimmed the lead down to 14 early in the frame. The Huskies answered with force and got the advantage back to 20 with a late-clock Diarra 3-pointer ahead of a DePaul timeout a few trips later with the Huskies up 59-39 and 11:47 to go.
After the stoppage the Huskies went cold, going over five minutes without a field goal as DePaul creeped back to within single-digits at 61-52 ahead of the U-8 media break. A thunderous Jayden Ross block let to a Karaban 3-pointer to push the lead back to double-figures, and two more from Ball and Karaban again swiftly had the advantage back to 70-54.
The seventh triple of the day from Ball made it a 75-60 advantage for Connecticut ahead of the final media timeout. That effectively put the contest away as the Demons wouldn't pull closer than 13 the rest of the way.
Inside The Numbers
- Connecticut shot 48.4 percent from the field (30-62) and 48.3 percent from distance (14-29)
- It marked the seventh time this season UConn has hit double-digit 3-pointers
- The 14 trifectas tied the season-high set vs. Memphis on Nov. 25
- The Huskies held a DePaul squad shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range with 11.6 makes per contest to a 3-of-12 effort from downtown
- UConn finished with 22 assists on 30 field goals, hitting 20 for the eight time this season and the third time in BIG EAST play
- Johnson had a career-high four assists from the pivot
- Diarra's eight first-half assists marked his most in a half in his career
- The Huskies finished with a slight 35-31 edge on the glass, led by seven rebounds apiece from Karaban and Reed Jr.
- UConn held a 7-1 edge in blocked shots, coming into the game first in the country with 6.8 rejections per game
News and Notes
- UConn improves to 20-1 all-time against DePaul and has won the last 19 in the series
- Connecticut is 3-0 on the road for the first time since 2020-21 and first time in a season with full attendance since 2008-09
- Ball scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-9 3-point shooting
- He became the second Husky with five or more 3-pointers in a game this season after Karaban hit five in the season opener
- Ball's career-high seven trifectas topped his previous best of four
- He was the first Husky with seven in a game since Cam Spencer hit the mark on Nov. 14, 2023 vs. Mississippi Valley State
- Ball became the first BIG EAST player this season and second from a power conference to have a game with seven 3-pointers on less than 10 attempts
- It was his second 20-point game of the season and UConn's 11th, coming from four different players
- Diarra is averaging 8.1 assists with a 5.18 assist/turnover ratio during UConn's seven-game winning streak
Up Next
The Huskies return to Gampel Pavilion for the first time in over a month on Sunday when they welcome Providence for a 2 p.m. tip.
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