University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Marquette
No. 4 UConn Visits Marquette For Regular Season Finale
3/5/2026 2:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – The No. 4 UConn men's basketball team (27-3, 17-2 BIG EAST) concludes the 2025-26 regular season with a chance to win a championship when it visits Marquette (11-19, 6-13 BIG EAST) on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. local and will air on FOX with Tim Brando and Donny Marshall on the call.
With a win, UConn would clinch at least a share of the BIG EAST regular season title and would tie its own record set in 2023-24 for most conference wins (18) in a season in league history. St. John's also matched the mark a season ago. The Huskies have claimed a regular season BIG EAST title 11 times in program history, tied for most in the conference's history despite a seven-year absence.
Connecticut is 14-8 all-time against Marquette and has held a significant upper hand in recent seasons, winner of its last six vs. MU and holding an 11-2 record vs. the Golden Eagles under Dan Hurley. Earlier this season UConn topped Marquette at Gampel Pavilion, 73-57, holding the Golden Eagles to 32.3 percent shooting and riding 31 combined points from Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr. to a win on Jan. 4. The Huskies are 9-1 on the road this season, one of three high-majors nationally with nine true away victories.
The Huskies were last in action on Saturday afternoon at Gampel where they closed the regular season home slate with a 71-67 triumph over Seton Hall. Prior to the game during Senior Day festivities UConn inducted Alex Karaban into the Huskies of Honor, becoming the 25th individual and first active player to go on the wall. Karaban left no doubt of his worthiness once the ball went up, scoring a game-high 23 points and hitting 5-of-6 from 3-point range to power UConn to a second half comeback victory. He hit two of his triples late in the second half during a pivotal 10-0 run that erased an eight-point deficit and added a pair of clutch free throws in the game's final 30 seconds to salt away the win. In support of the captain, Tarris Reed Jr. posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double while Ball (14 points) and Braylon Mullins (11) scored in double-figures. Silas Demary Jr. dished out a game-high nine assists and added four rebounds and two steals.
The win was UConn's third-straight after a 2-2 stretch in early February that followed an 18-game winning streak, the third-longest in program history. UConn currently sits fourth nationally in several key NCAA Tournament metrics including Wins Above Bubble (+9.0), Quad 1 winning percentage (.800) and total Q1+Q2 victories (17).
Ball leads five Connecticut starters averaging double-figures with 14.1 points per game and is seventh in the league with 2.2 threes per contest. Reed Jr. adds 13.7 points, a team-high 7.9 rebounds and ranks top-20 nationally with 2.2 blocks per game while leading the BIG EAST with a 63.5 field goal percentage. The senior big man has posted back-to-back double-doubles and recorded eight this season, fourth-most in the BIG EAST. Karaban does it all with 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists while slashing 48.8 / 41.5 / 84.1. He became a top-10 scorer in UConn history last week and holds program records for wins and games started while tracking towards records in games played, minutes and 3-pointers. Demary Jr. is tops in the BIG EAST with 6.5 assists per game, a number that ramps up to 7.4 helpers a night in conference play. Mullins is scoring 12.1 points per and leads the league with 2.7 made 3-pointers on 39.8 percent shooting from three in conference action.
Marquette welcomes the Huskies for the regular season finale after a 22-point victory at Providence on Wednesday night. Freshman Nigel James Jr. leads the Golden Eagles with 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three. Chase Ross (14.2 ppg) and Royce Parham (12.1) also score in double-figures for MU, while Ben Golden leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per game.
Following the finale on Saturday the Huskies will begin play at the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament with quarterfinal action on Thursday, March 12. UConn will be a top-two seed in the tournament, with final seeding to be determined this weekend.
