HARTFORD – The UConn men’s basketball team beat Butler, 79-60, in a slugfest to open Big East play at PeoplesBank Arena Tuesday night.
Solo Ball led the way with a career-high 26 points on an efficient 8-for-14 shooting from the field and his junior classmate Jayden Ross brought the fireworks with 13 points and eight rebounds, half of which came on the offensive end and led to monster putbacks. Tarris Reed Jr. added 16 points and three blocks as the Huskies swatted away 13 shots and Braylon Mullins was the fourth in double-figures as he finished with 12 points.
Point guard Silas Demary Jr. directed the Huskies’ offense to 50.8% shooting from the field with a career-high 11 assists as UConn, 12-1 on the season, improved to 20-20 in Big East openers.
The Huskies got off to a sloppy start, turning the ball over on four of its first eight possessions and allowing Butler to get out in transition, where it had two uncontested dunks in the first four minutes to help jump out to an early 11-4 lead.
But UConn went on a run after the first media timeout with a layup from Alex Karaban followed by five-straight points from Ball to tie the game. The Huskies blocked eight of Butler’s first 18 shot attempts and sprinted to a 30-17 lead with a 26-6 run over 11 minutes, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Mullins as Demary’s assist total multiplied and Ball made five of his first seven shots from the field.
Ball continued to show off the different ways he can get a good shot and scored UConn’s last five points of the half as he went into the break with a game-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, giving Demary his seventh assist of the game with a straight-on 3-pointer in the final minute.
After a poor defensive start, UConn held the Bulldogs to just 4-for-24 shooting from the field as it went on a 35-14 run over 16 and a half minutes to head into halftime with a 39-25 lead.
The physicality of the game only ticked up in the second half with bodies flying all over the court, a battle for every rebound. Ross grabbed offensive rebounds on back-to-back possessions, putting back the first for a layup under the basket and then flying in undeterred for a one-handed putback dunk that will exist on highlight reels for years to come.
It took 12 shots for Butler to see its first fall from the field in the second half as the Huskies’ lead grew to as many as 23 points. That first make, a 3-pointer from Evan Haywood, sparked a barrage from deep for the Bulldogs, who made three in a row to cut into their deficit.
The difference was trimmed to 11 points before Demary tossed an alley-oop to Ross for another dunk and Ross, after Mullins blocked a Haywood jumper, fed Reed for another dunk to make the score 66-51 with seven minutes to play.
UConn finished the game with a 47-28 advantage on the glass, where Butler came in ranked 10th in the nation averaging 43.4 per game. The Huskies will travel to DePaul on Sunday for their second true road game of the season before a short holiday break.