University of Connecticut
Ohio State
11/11/2026 8:36:00โฏPM | Men's Basketball
HARTFORD โย The No. 4 UConn men's basketball team is back in Hartford for Friday night lights when it welcomes Ohio State to PeoplesBank Arena. Tip-off in the BIG EAST-B1G battle is set for 7:30 p.m. and will air on TNT with Brian Anderson, Grant Hill and Andy Katz on the call.ย
Friday night in Hartford is aย STRIPE OUT.ย Fans will receive information prior to the contest on whether to wearย BLUEย orย WHITEย in their section to stripe out the arena. It is also aย Husky Happy Hourย in Hartford, with $4 domestic beers, $4 fountain sodas and $4 slices of pizza from doors at 6 p.m. until tip-off.ย
The Huskies enter Friday's marquee non-conference matchup riding a 3-0 start, their eighth in nine seasons under head coach Dan Hurley. The Buckeyes will visit Hartford winners of their last two and ranked as a top-30 outfit by Torvik and Haslam. OSU is the second of seven foes ranked in the current Kenpom top-35 that UConn will face in one of the nation's fiercest non-conference slates.
UConn has met Ohio State seven times in a series dating back to 1983, holding a 3-4 record ahead of the first meeting since 2016. The squads first took the hardwood for a home-and-home prior to UConn's modern ascent, with the Buckeyes sweeping the meetings in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons. The next three match-ups came in postseason play - first in the 1988 NIT Championship, a 72-67 win for the Huskies to jump-start the Jim Calhoun era in Storrs. Ohio State took the next match-up in the Second Round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Cincinnati, playing as the 1-seed and knocking off the 9-seed Huskies. They met again in the Big Dance on the Final Four stage in 1999, a 64-58 win for UConn to set up its first national title. The series resumed for a home-and-home in the 2015-16 and 2016-17, with each squad winning on its home floor.ย
The Huskies debuted on campus on Monday night with an 83-41 victory over Wagner at the M&T Bank Center at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.ย Silas Demary Jr.ย led a balanced effort that saw all five starters finish in double-figures with 18 points, adding four rebounds, four assists and a career-high six steals. His six swipes were among the 14 recorded by the Huskies, UConn's most in a game since 2021. In total UConn forced 26 turnovers and held Wagner to 33.3 percent shooting.ย Jayden Rossย joinedย Demary Jr.ย atop the scoresheet with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, whileย Nik Khameniaย scored 11 in only seven minutes before exiting with an injury.ย Na'jai Hinesย andย Braylon Mullinsย added 10 apiece, withย Mullinsย dishing out four assists andย Hinesย adding eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Mullinsย leads the Huskies with 17.7 points per game in the young season, one of six Huskies averaging at least nine per game.ย Demary Jr.ย is second on the scoresheet with 14.7 per game along with 6.3 boards and a team-high 5.3 assists per contest, followed byย Khameniaย at 10.7 per game andย Colben Landrewย at 10.0.ย Hinesย adds 9.7 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game, whileย Rossย chips in 9.3 points and 2.7 rebounds on an efficient 50.0 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three. Defensively, the Huskies are among the national leaders in scoring defense (54.7 ppg), field goal percentage defense (34.2 percent), turnover margin (+8.0) and rebound margin (+7.3).ย
Ohio State bounced back from an opening-night setback in Las Vegas to No. 25 BYU with home wins over Youngstown State and most recently Marshall on Monday. John Mobley Jr. leads the Buckeyes with 19.3 points per game, one of four in double-figures. Amare Bynum and Andrija Jelavic both add 15.0 points per contest, with Jelavic snaring a team-best 7.3 rebounds a night.ย
Following OSU's visit to Hartford on Friday night, the Huskies head west for their first true road test of the campaign with a visit to No. 12 Arizona in Tucson on Wednesday, Nov. 18.ย ย
