University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
1-0,0-0Big East
New Haven
0-1,0-0NEC
No. 4 UConn Tops New Haven In Season Opener
11/3/2025 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STORRS – The No. 4 UConn men's basketball team (1-0) opened its 2025-26 campaign with a 77-59 win over New Haven (0-1) on Monday night in the season opener at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion. It marked Connecticut's first all-time meeting with New Haven and the Division 1 debut for the Chargers. Alex Karaban led four Connecticut scorers in double-figures with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in the triumph.
The Huskies took an early lead and never relented but didn't quite pull completely away until late in the second half against a very game Charger squad. Solo Ball joined Karaban atop the scoresheet with 18 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Jaylin Stewart scored 11 with eight caroms and Silas Demary Jr. added 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. For New Haven, big man Andre Pasha led the way with 17 points and six rebounds.
How it Happened
The Huskies scored the first two baskets of the contest and were off and running, taking a 10-3 lead ahead of the first media timeout with a Eric Reibe flush. The Chargers used a 3:30 field goal drought from the Huskies to pull briefly within two, before 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 way 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 at the end of the first gave the Huskies a 37-24 edge at the break despite a slow shooting start.
Back-to-back buckets inside from Demary Jr. and Stewart at the start 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 next seven points after the stop to get back within 10, but Ball quickly 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 stick around and were within 13 before an electric sequence featuring a Stewart block and assist on a Ball triple. After a stop 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 home his third 3-pointer of the night to give UConn its first lead over 20 at 67-46. New Haven again battled back to within 15 before the Huskies ran off a 9-0 run to close regulation and push the final margin to 24.
Inside The Numbers
- UConn shot 48.2 percent (27-56) from the field, 34.8 percent (8-23) from downtown and 85.0 percent (17-20) from the free throw line
- Conversely, UNH finished with a 44.2 percent (23-52) mark from the field but connected at a 21.4 percent (3-14) clip from deep and 42.9 percent (6-14) from the line
- The Huskies were +15 on the glass, out-rebounding UNH 40-25
- The advantage on the backboard led to a 36-30 edge in points in the paint
- UConn also finished with a 13-2 edge in second chance points thanks to a 10-4 lead in offensive rebounds
- Karaban scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range and a 4-for-4 day from the line
- UConn had an uncharacteristic 11 assists on 27 made field goals, with Malachi Smith dishing out a team-high four in his UConn debut
- The Huskies finished 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 under Dan Hurley
- Hurley is now 15-1 as a collegiate head coach in the first game of a season
- Monday night marked the official UConn debut of Demary Jr., Smith, Reibe, Millender and Koroma
- UConn has sold out 24-straight games at Gampel Pavilion, a streak that began on Dec. 1, 2022
- Karaban now has 1,369 career points, moving past Toby Kimball (1,361) for 26th in program history
- With a 4-4 day from the line Karaban improved his career free throw percentage to 84.4 percent, passing Albert Mouring (84.2 percent) for fourth in UConn history
Up Next
The Huskies make their regular season Hartford debut on Friday, Nov. 7 when they host UMass Lowell at PeoplesBank Arena for a 7 p.m. tip on Peacock.
