University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
28-4,17-3Big East
Xavier
15-18,6-14Big East
UConn Cruises to Win over Xavier in BE Quarters
3/12/2026 9:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – The two-seed UConn men's basketball team (28-4) shot over 57 percent from the field and cruised to a 93-68 wire-to-wire win over 10-seed Xavier (15-18) in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. With the win, UConn will play in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals for the sixth-straight season since its return to the league ahead of 2020-21.
The Huskies never trailed and took a 20-point lead to the half, not allowing the Musketeers within single digits over the final 29 minutes of regulation. Solo Ball led three Huskies in double-figures with 19 points, while Tarris Reed Jr. posted his fourth-straight double-double with 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. All eight Huskies that saw time before the final seconds scored at least six points and seven tallied nine or more.
Alex Karaban was the third Husky in double-figures and scored 15 points along with five rebounds and four assists. Silas Demary Jr., Braylon Mullins, Jayden Ross and Eric Reibe all scored nine points, the latter two coming in a 24-point effort from the UConn reserves. Ross stuffed the stat sheet in his 22 minutes as a reserve, adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals to his nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
How it Happened
The Huskies opened with the game's first five points coming on a Demary Jr. drive and a 3-pointer from Ball. A Karaban corner three and Reed Jr. three-point play wrapped around the first media timeout gave the Huskies a 15-6 lead at 15:03 of the opening stanza.
At 12:28 a second chance 3-pointer from Karaban pushed the Husky lead into double-figures for the first time, going up 22-10. At 8:14 a Jayden Ross steal led to a thundering transition slam and triggered a Xavier timeout with UConn leading 31-18. That was part of a 12-1 run that pushed the UConn lead to 20, going up 39-19 with a Karaban lay-in at 5:03. The Huskies took that 20-point edge to the break and led 50-30 at the half. Ball, Karaban and Reed Jr. all scored in double-figures in the opening 20 and the Huskies shot 56.3 percent as a team.
The Musketeers took advantage of a sluggish start to the second half scored the first seven points of the frame before a Mullins 3-pointer and driving lay-in got the lead back to 55-37 about five into the period. A put-back Ross slam and Demary finish inside got the lead back to 19 as the Huskies pushed the edge to 61-42 at 12:18.
At 8:50, Ross pushed the lead back to 20 with a corner triple that gave Connecticut a 69-49 advantage. Ball hit his fourth trifecta of the day at 5:41 and gave the Huskies their largest lead of the day up 80-55. From there all that was left to decide was the final tally.
Inside The Numbers
- UConn shot 57.4 percent (35-61) on the day from the field, 37.5 percent (12-32) from 3-point range and 84.6 percent (11-13) from the line
- UConn's 35 made field goals are tied for the third-most in a game in its BIG EAST Tournament history, matching the number hit against Xavier in the 2024 quarterfinals
- The 57.4 percent performance was its second-best this season behind only a 60.9 percent effort on Nov. 7 vs. UMass Lowell
- Conversely, the Huskies held the Musketeers to 37.3 percent (19-51) from the field and 32.1 percent (9-28) from deep
- The Huskies were dominant on the glass to the tune of a 40-28 rebounding margin
- UConn turned 12 offensive rebounds into a 22-13 advantage in second chance points
- Reed Jr.'s 14 rebounds were his most this season, four shy of his career-best set at Providence on 3/1/25
- UConn dished out 18 assists on 35 field goals, led by four from Karaban
- The Huskies out-scored the Musketeers 42-16 in the paint
- The Connecticut reserves out-scored the Xavier reserves, 24-23, improving UConn to 12-0 this season when the bench scores at least 20
News and Notes
- UConn improves to 10-5 all-time against Xavier and 2-0 vs. XU in the BIG EAST Tournament, also meeting in the 2024 quarterfinals
- The Huskies are now 44-30 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament and 18-15 in the quarterfinal round
- Karaban tied Shabazz Napier's program record appearing in his 143rd career game
- He extended his own program record with his 142nd career start
- Now has 1,769 career points, 14 behind Kemba Walker (1,783) for ninth and 17 back of Ryan Boatright (1,786) for eighth in UConn history
- Hit three 3-pointers, now has 274, two shy of Rashad Anderson's program record of 276
- Reed Jr. posted his fourth-straight double-double, his 10th of the season and the 20th of his career
- He became the first player in UConn BIG EAST Tournament history to record at least 17 points and 14 rebounds in less than 30 minutes of action
- UConn last recorded a 50-point first half at the BIG EAST Tournament when it scored 52 in the first half against St. John's in 2024 Semifinals
Up Next
The Huskies will play on Semifinal Friday night at MSG against either three-seed Villanova or 11-seed Georgetown, with tip set for 8 p.m. on FS1.
