UConn men fall to No. 4 Arizona 71-67 at Gampel Pavilion

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Nov 19, 2025

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STORRS, Conn. – What already figured to be one of the toughest challenges of the season for the UConn men’s basketball team became even tougher before Wednesday’s opening tip.

It was announced that the Huskies would be down not one, but two starters, after center Tarris Reed Jr. tweaked his ankle and rejoined five-star freshman Braylon Mullins, also dealing with an ankle, on the bench in street clothes.

But the Huskies never folded, pushing the championship-caliber Wildcats to the final minute before their advantage in the frontcourt came out on top in the end, sealing a 71-67 Arizona win.

UConn (4-1) fell to 8-7 in top-five matchups all-time and is 1-1 in such games at Gampel Pavilion, which was decked out in white and on its feet for almost the entirety of the second half as the Huskies went down 13 and fought back to take a one-point lead with two minutes to play.

In the end, free-throw shooting also cost the Huskies as they went just 9 for 18 from the stripe to Arizona’s 19-for-25.

Reed’s absence was especially represented in the 43-23 advantage the Wildcats had on the boards, the 16-5 advantage in second-chance points and the 42-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Still, it took a late up-and-under layup from veteran guard Jaden Bradley, who got eight of his game-high 21 points from the foul line, with 15 seconds left to lead the Wildcats to victory. Koa Peat, their star freshman and projected lottery pick, was a menacing defensive presence and posted a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Eric Reibe, thrust into the starting center spot against Arizona’s big, physical frontcourt, started his day on the floor after being undercut while finishing an alley-oop layup. Wildcats freshman Brayden Burries was assessed a flagrant one foul on the play, just over two minutes into the game.

Reibe finished with a team-high 15 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots. The Huskies had four players finish in double figures as Solo Ball scored 14, Silas Demary Jr. 13 and Jaylin Stewart 10. Alex Karaban added eight points on 2-for-5 shooting.

UConn’s largest deficit in the first half was six points, 14-8, before Ball saw his first 3-pointer fall and then started to take advantage of the midrange area the Wildcats left open. Stewart had a similar scoring flurry and dropped a 3-pointer in from the corner to tie the game at 29 with four minutes left in the half.

With both teams in the bonus, the end of the half was settled at the foul line, which has quietly been a problem area for the Huskies to this point in the season. Arizona shot 11 of 13 from the stripe to UConn’s 6 for 12 and took a 35-33 advantage into the halftime break.

The Wildcats started the second half on an 18-7 run and built their lead to as many as 13 points, 53-40, before Demary got a pair of midrange shots to fall, Jayden Ross hit a corner 3 and Ball, the junior sharpshooter who’s struggled from 3-point range to start the year, was finding the bottom of the net consistently from midrange. He cut the deficit to four with just over eight minutes to play.

The Huskies couldn’t have asked for a better effort from either backup center, Dwayne Koroma or Reibe, who finished strong for a layup and grabbed a defensive rebound that allowed a transition 3-pointer for Karaban, which brought UConn to within one point. Reibe then made a 3-pointer, his second of the game, to tie it at 60 with four minutes left. Stewart then finished a layup to give the Huskies their first lead since the score was 20-19 in the first half.

Arizona’s advantage in the frontcourt paid off as 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas pulled down an offensive rebound over Stewart and finished an easy lay-in to put the Wildcats back in front, 65-64, with just over a minute to play. Bradley backed his way to the basket to make it a 3-point lead with 15 seconds on the clock.

The Huskies inbounded the ball to Demary, who drove and dumped off to Reibe for a layup. It was nearly a three-point play to potentially tie the game, but the ball bounced off the rim and the freshman missed both free throws. Tobe Awaka made his pair of shots from the stripe to make it a five-point game and Demary nailed a 3, but it was too late.

UConn will return to PeoplesBank Arena for a buy game against Bryant on Sunday night before its next matchup against a likely ranked team in Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Black Friday.

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