UConn overcomes sluggish start to defeat East Texas A&M

Solo Ball led all scorers with 14 points, including this dunk, as UConn beat East Texas A&M Friday. (Photo by Storrs Central)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

STORRS, Conn. — The first week of December 2025 will always be remembered in UConn history.

The Huskies took down fellow blueblood Kansas for the first time in program history, not to mention on the road at historic Allen Fieldhouse. Picking up a win like that, in a game that saw freshman Braylon Mullins go off in the first real action of his career, felt like a fever dream for some Husky fans.

The portion of the first week of December 2025 that likely won’t stick in the brains of UConn faithful very long was what transpired on Friday. And it won’t stick for a pretty good reason.

Playing its first game at Gampel Pavilion since its lone loss of the year against Arizona, UConn used a big second half to pull away from East Texas A&M, winning 83-59 in front of a pretty solid crowd in Storrs.

“With the rest of the non-conference schedule looming and then Big East play, I felt like it was important for us to get this last buy game out of the way and put a close to that part of our schedule,” Dan Hurley said. “I thought we were a bit sluggish in the first half, and rightfully so, with how our schedule has been.”

The Huskies struggled more than expected in the first half and took a 38-27 lead into the intermission. The team only knocked down one three-pointer, a hit from Jayden Ross, and looked very out of sorts on the offensive end. The offense wasn't perfect in Lawrence either, but still looked better than the first 20 minutes on Friday.

“The first half was obviously frustrating offensively, missing two dunks and settling for threes,” Hurley said. “It seemed like we were shooting too many threes from the Madison Reed hair care logo.”

The second half was much improved, allowing the Huskies to expand their lead to its eventual 24-point victory. The team took advantage of its size mismatches down low, getting easy finishes from Eric Reibe and Alex Karaban inside. The rookie Reibe finished in double figures for the fifth time this season, with 13 points and six rebounds, while Karaban finished with 12.

The biggest story coming in for UConn was what the encore would look like for Mullins after his 17-point outburst against the Jayhawks. Like the rest of the team, it was a slow start for the star freshman, but he ramped it up and scored 10 points in the second half to finish in double figures.

“He’s still working his way back,” Hurley said. “I know he was awesome at Kansas, I just don’t know that he's quite at that 28-30 minute per game range as a starter yet. Braylon is gonna be a guy that, once he catches his rhythm, is going to be hard to take off the floor.”

Jaylin Stewart was a topic of discussion after his past couple of games, where he was a non-factor on the offensive end. With the health and emergence of Mullins, in a way, it feels like time is ticking for the junior to contribute something soon or risk being sent to the bench in a smaller role. He responded with nine points and seven rebounds, while tying the team best with a plus-22 while on the floor.

“It’s a good problem to have to have good players around you that raise your level of play,” Hurley said. “I feel like Jaylin was very active today.”

“I feel like my whole career, I’ve always been a selfless player,” Stewart added. “I’m gonna go out there and help the team, and (Mullins is) gonna go out there and help the team. We’ll make it work.”

A friendly competition between Stewart and Mullins could end up bringing out the best in both of them. Add Jayden Ross to the mix and you have a solid group of wing players that rival most other similar positional groups in the country.

Another underrated storyline coming off the Kansas game was the shooting of Solo Ball. The junior had been shooting under 30 percent from three for the season coming into the game on Tuesday, but showed signs of growth with a 3-for-7 effort in Lawrence. On Friday, he shot 2-for-5 from the perimeter and raised his percentage yet again. Despite the slow start to the year, he isn’t worried.

“I feel like when you have those bad shooting games, it's part of basketball,” Ball said. “I remember Steph Curry had a streak in November where he couldn’t hit anything, and I’m no Steph Curry.”

After playing against the Jayhawks just three days ago, the Huskies have another perhaps tougher test in just four days, as they take on reigning national champion Florida in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Having this game squished in the middle is something Hurley realizes probably wasn’t necessary, and he said the team probably wouldn’t schedule like that in future seasons.

No matter what he does in the future, the present presents a massive opportunity for another redemption game against a team that beat the Huskies, going back to last season’s loss to Florida in the NCAA Tournament, a game UConn felt it could and should have won.

“Going back to Storrs South, it's gonna be a big one for us,” Ball said. "It's an opportunity to get revenge like we did at Kansas.”

The Huskies and Gators are set to tip off at 9 p.m. on Tuesday at the Garden.