Bench effort leads No. 2 UConn men's basketball to 87-81 win over Providence

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Jan 27, 2026

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STORRS, Conn. – It was UConn’s bench that stepped up Tuesday night as the second-ranked Huskies held on for another tight win, 87-81, over Providence at Gampel Pavilion.

After averaging only 7.6 bench points over the last five games, beginning when they visited the Friars three weeks ago and scored just three, the Huskies saw a combined 26 points from Malachi Smith and Eric Reibe to put them over the top without star freshman Braylon Mullins, who was out with a concussion.

UConn led for 36 minutes in the game but the Friars kept it close throughout, as the regional rivalry typically goes. It was the Huskies’ Big Three – Alex Karaban, Tarris Reed Jr. and Solo Ball – who finally put the game away down the stretch.

Reed didn’t have his best game, yet finished with a team-high 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting, in addition to six rebounds and three blocks. The other half of the Huskies’ two-headed monster at center, Reibe didn’t miss on six attempts from the field to finish with 12 points, plus eight rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes.

Smith sparked the offense with 12 points, seven assists and two steals as he hit a career-high four 3-pointers without missing from beyond the arc. Ball finished with 17 points on 5-for-18 shooting, Karaban put together eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists on 3-for-14 shooting and Silas Demary Jr. added 15 with four rebounds and six assists.

UConn improved to 20-1 on the season and 10-0 in the Big East with its 16th consecutive win and eighth straight in the all-time series against the Friars, who fell to 9-12 on the year and 2-8 in league play.

Smith, who hadn’t been able to impact games the way he did in nonconference play, knocked down his first 3-pointer since New Year’s Eve after an early Providence run and hit another 90 seconds later. His emergence sparked a 12-2 UConn run over the next three minutes as Karaban went back-to-back, Reibe came off the bench for a strong three-point play and Demary got his first shot to fall from deep, making it a 29-19 Huskies’ lead with less than 10 minutes left in the half.

Kim English presented a different look as his Friars went into a 2-3 zone and were disruptive, able to get stops and score in transition with the ball in the hands of freshman Jamier Jones, who scored seven straight during a 9-0 run to claw back.

Both teams made 13 shots from the field in the first half – UConn on 31 attempts (41.9%), PC on 27 (48.1%), and the Huskies went into the break with a 41-37 lead thanks to their 6 for 12 mark from 3-point range. Providence, which averages 9.4 made 3s per game but was without leading scorer Jason Edwards (foot), went only 1 for 3 from deep over the first 20 minutes.

Dan Hurley was frustrated early in the second half when he had to pull Reed after a missed chance at an offensive rebound and a third foul. But Reibe filled in nicely, scoring a pair inside to reach double figures for the first time since Dec. 5. Providence cut its deficit to one with a 3-pointer from Stefan Vaaks, but Demary answered with a triple of his own and went back-to-back in 17 seconds after Reibe forced a turnover at the other end.

UConn made six of its seven shots from the field over a four-minute period – including a third 3-pointer from Smith – to withstand the Friars’ push and go up seven with less than 14 minutes remaining. That lead vanished, too.

Providence cut the difference to one over the next six minutes but, again, the Huskies pushed back. Karaban, who missed nine of his first 11 shots, got a floater to go, Ball made his second 3-pointer on 10 attempts and Reed finished inside for an eight-point lead with four and a half minutes to play. UConn’s Big Three accounted for 15-straight points before Demary’s first steal of the game and a subsequent flagrant foul on Jones.

Demary missed both of his free throws, but the flagrant allowed another possession and Reed made one of two from the line. The Huskies’ big man made a steal at the top of the key on the ensuing possession and went coast-to-coast for a dunk to all-but seal the victory with 58 seconds on the clock.

UConn will return to the road looking to continue its winning streak with a second consecutive victory in Omaha, Neb., when it visits Creighton on Saturday.

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