No. 5 UConn doesn’t need much motivation before its high-profile showdown against No. 18 Florida in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday in New York.
After all, the Huskies’ quest for a three-peat ended with a 77-75 loss to the Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last March. Florida won the national championship.
Alex Karaban scored 14 points in that game and added 12 on Friday as UConn (8-1) recorded its fourth straight victory with an 83-59 home win over East Texas A&M.
Freshman Eric Reibe had 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks against the Lions while starting in place of senior center Tarris Reed Jr. The latter, who is averaging 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds to lead the team, missed his second straight game and fourth in the last five games with an ankle injury.
Famed five-star recruit Braylon Mullins scored all 10 of his points in the second half on Friday. The freshman guard was playing in just his third game of the season and his second since scoring a game-high 17 points coming off the bench in Tuesday’s 61-56 win over Kansas.
Jaylin Stewart, a junior, added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Huskies on Friday.
Stewart told reporters he wasn’t worried about retaining his starting role against Mullins, who missed six games with an ankle injury.
“I feel like throughout my career I’ve always been a selfless player,” Stewart said. “Watching (Mullins) go crazy in that game, I loved every play. There’s going to be no changes on my part. I’m just going to do what I have to do for the team, and he’s going to do the same thing. It’s going to work.”
UConn head coach Dan Hurley said he has yet to formalize a plan for Mullins.
“I don’t know if that’s the role I necessarily envision for him,” Hurley said. “He’s still working his way back. He was great at Kansas, but I just don’t know if he’s at the point where he’s potentially 28-30 minutes as a starter. That’s not where we want him to go tonight.
“I think Braylon is going to be a guy, once he finds his rhythm, it’s going to be very difficult to get off the field. But we have a lot of guys that do a lot of things that help us win.”
Florida (5-3) fell for the second time in three games with a 67-66 loss to then-No. 4 Duke at the ACC/SEC Challenge Tuesday night in Durham, North Carolina
Gators junior forward Thomas Haugh scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor.
“He’s been outstanding,” Gators head coach Todd Golden said of Haugh, who is averaging a team-high 18.6 points to go along with 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
“I never take him for granted, but he delivers for us every night,” Golden said.
Haugh had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench in the NCAA Tournament game against UConn.
Alex Condon averages 15.1 points per game, followed by Boogie Fland (12.5), Rueben Chinyelu (10.3) and Urban Klavzar (10.0).
–Field level media
