Mali’s world is home to stabilizing force on UConn’s bench

Malachi Smith launches desperation three that turned into four-point play and dagger for UConn against Illinois. (Photo by Fox Sports)

NEW YORK — Malachi Smith’s first true Husky moment, to steal a phrase descriptive to his hometown New York Yankees, came rather unexpectedly.

With UConn clinging to a 66-59 lead in the final minutes of its battle with Illinois, the senior point guard found himself the recipient of an offensive rebound tipped out by Eric Reibe. With the shot clock set to expire, Smith needed to launch an attempt, any attempt.

The Dayton transfer pushed a deep three toward the rim, with zero margin for error. Somehow, the shot splashed through the Madison Square Garden net. Even more stunning than that was Smith drawing a foul on Jake Davis in the act of shooting, sinking the ensuing free throw for UConn’s second four-point play of the day and the final nail in the coffin for the fifth-ranked Huskies, who walked off their quasi-home floor with a 74-61 win over the No. 13 Fighting Illini.

The lengthy monitor review to determine whether the shot clock had expired and not been reset only heightened the tension. Ultimately, it was ruled that the timer would have hit zero with 2:10 remaining in regulation, whereas Smith’s shot and foul drawn occurred at the 2:11 mark. Long story short, it counted.

“Yeah, I didn’t know the shot clock was going off,” he recounted. “So I just looked at the sideline and everybody told me, ‘shoot it.’ (Reibe) found me, so I tried to concentrate at least a little bit. It hit the rim and it went in. I’m glad that they reviewed it and it counted.”

“I’ve never seen that, I’ve never been a part of that,” Solo Ball — who accounted for UConn’s first four-point play Friday afternoon — said. “That gave us a big lift, too, at a time that we needed it, when we were only up eight and we had the lead at 17 at one point. Getting that was huge momentum for us, and it helped us finish out the game.”

Smith ended his Thanksgiving homecoming with 14 points and nine assists in an effort that became all the more important for a UConn backcourt that had to navigate Silas Demary, Jr. being hindered by foul trouble. Demary picked up his third foul early in the second half, forcing Smith into a larger role than usual, but the increased responsibility did not faze the veteran.

“I just want to make sure I’m ready whenever my number’s called,” Smith calmly asserted. “Silas got in some foul trouble, my number was called, they needed me to come in early in the second half. I just wanted to make sure I made plays, controlled the game, got my shooters some good shots, attacked the paint. When my shot is there, I make it count.”

Smith’s presence on this UConn team is reminiscent of a prior Husky floor general who served a similar purpose before moving into the starting lineup. Like Smith, Hassan Diarra was a secondary point guard behind Tristen Newton on UConn’s two national championship teams. Also like Smith, Diarra was a tough New York City guard who steadied the ship when Newton was unable to affect the game for whatever reason. Together, the two offered a similar temperament and change of pace that made the Huskies even more formidable beyond their starting five. And when asked how much more Smith’s growth as Demary’s understudy has helped UConn traverse a non-conference gauntlet rife with landmines, Dan Hurley did not shy away from its value on the team as a whole and its parts.

“It’s important,” he admitted. “I still think point guard play is so critical. I think it looked tonight kind of like the guard play looked that way in ’23 and ’24. Malachi made a huge difference off the bench, 14 and 8 and then to make that crazy three there to get it back to (double digits) when we were wavering. He’s the story of the game.”

“Malachi’s huge for us,” Ball echoed. “He’s an incredible playmaker. You see him come off the bench, and the guy just gets in the game and puts up 11 points and 10 assists. That’s unheard of, a guy who can just put up numbers like that coming off the bench. That just shows his impact, and defensively, he’s a pest. He’s just a great player to be around, it just makes us so much harder to guard.”

UConn, now fully healthy with Tarris Reed, Jr. returning on Friday and Braylon Mullins making his long-awaited season debut, now heads to Kansas to take on a Jayhawks unit that may be without its potential No. 1 NBA Draft pick in freshman wunderkind Darryn Peterson. Should the rookie prodigy be unavailable, Smith’s emergence alongside Demary will pose a greater matchup advantage for the Huskies, who now seem more confident with a veteran guard helping direct traffic.

“He’s a huge spark off the bench for us,” Alex Karaban said of Smith. “Just that energy that he has on and off the court, how unselfish he was today, he really changed the game for us. It’s Mali’s world.”