UConn men advance to Big East Tournament semis with 93-68 win over No. 10 seed Xavier

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Mar 12, 2026

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NEW YORK – The UConn men’s basketball team rode a dominant first half into the Big East Tournament semifinal round as it took down No. 10 seed Xavier in Thursday’s quarterfinal, 93-68.

It will be the program’s sixth year in a row advancing to the semis, where it will meet the winner of Thursday’s nightcap between No. 3 Villanova and No. 11 Georgetown at 8 p.m. on Friday.

The Huskies and the Hoyas are tied for the most Big East Tournament titles all time with eight.

UConn (28-4) saw a combined 51 points from its Big Three as Solo Ball made four 3-pointers on his way to 19 points, Tarris Reed Jr. recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Alex Karaban added 15 with five rebounds and four assists.

It was a big game from Jayden Ross off the bench as the junior wing recorded three steals and had a pair of thunderous transition dunks. He finished with nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes. Silas Demary Jr., Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe also added nine points a piece.

The Huskies got off to a great start in response to their worst shooting performance of the season in Saturday’s loss at Marquette. Dominating on the glass, particularly on the offensive end, crisp ball movement led to a second-chance opportunity for Karaban from the corner that matched the team’s made 3-point total in Milwaukee (3 for 25) less than eight minutes into the game. It was Karaban’s second of three triples in the first half and pushed the UConn lead to 22-10 as coach Richard Pitino looked for answers with a zone defense.

UConn wouldn’t be out-hustled on loose balls and played disruptive defense during a 12-1 run that made it a 20-point lead with five minutes left in the first half.

The offense didn’t miss a beat with Malachi Smith entering the game after Demary was called for his second foul with over 13 and a half minutes on the clock. UConn was plus-11 in Smith’s 13 first-half minutes as he saw a pair of 3-pointers fall and contributed three rebounds to the team’s 21-10 advantage on the glass.

Reed, Karaban and Ball each scored in double figures in the first half and combined for 32 points as the Huskies — with no turnovers from their starters in the first 20 minutes — took a 50-30 lead into halftime.

UConn turned the ball over twice to start the second half and missed its first three shots from the field as Xavier came out of the break on a 7-0 run and cut its deficit to 13 before Mullins saw his first 3-pointer fall.

Fouls kept the Huskies from running away with the game as they put Xavier into the bonus with just less than 12 minutes left and gave up 17 free-throw attempts before their first trip to the stripe. The lead grew back to 20 with 3-pointers from Ball and Ross, and Karaban got to the line for the Huskies’ first foul shots of the half to make the score 71-49 around the eight-minute mark.

Ball made two more 3-pointers — his third and fourth of the game — in a one-minute stretch that included a one-handed slam from Reed as UConn built its largest lead of 25 points.

UConn finished the game shooting 57.4% from the field with 12 made 3-pointers on 32 attempts. Xavier shot 37.3% from the floor and 9 for 28 from 3, connecting on 21 of its 33 free-throw attempts.