UConn men's basketball downs Gardner-Webb, 86-46, in opener

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Nov 2, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

HARTFORD, Conn. – The UConn men’s basketball team rolled to a 86-46 win over Gardner-Webb in its season-opener at PeoplesBank Arena Monday night behind a combined 34 points from Braylon Mullins and Nik Khamenia.

It was the 200th win at UConn for coach Dan Hurley as he begins his ninth season leading the Huskies.

In the first meaningful game of the year, four days before a national championship rematch with Michigan, Hurley was able to spend most of the game working out different lineup combinations as the preseason No. 4 Huskies built and maintained a sizeable lead in the second half.

Mullins and Khamenia had a lot to do with it as Mullins saw four 3-pointers fall on his way to 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Khamenia continued to thrive in the system for 14 points with six rebounds and three assists.

Point guard Silas Demary Jr. only took three shots from the field as he finished with six points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three of the Huskies’ 10 steals. Freshman Colben Landrew added 11 points (4 of 6), five rebounds and three assists while Na’jai Hines posted a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double with three blocks in 22 minutes.

UConn’s free throw line struggles continued, making just 15 of 24 from the stripe, but they finished the game shooting 51.7% from the field and outscored the Runnin’ Bulldogs, 21-3, in transition.

The Huskies started the game with an 8-0 run highlighted by a two-handed putback dunk from Jayden Ross (seven points), and proceeded to overmatch the Runnin’ Bulldogs on the defensive end as they forced 17 turnovers and held them to 25.5% shooting from the field.

In his second game action since returning from an undisclosed injury, Mullins was aggressive with two early buckets in transition, including a two-handed dunk off of a steal in the backcourt. His first 3-pointer of the season put the Huskies up, 16-6, less than seven minutes in.

UConn shot just 4 for 15 from 3 in the first half as both freshmen, Landrew and Junior County, who were first off the bench together, got in on the action before Khamenia got his first to fall with five minutes left in the half. Gardner-Webb took advantage of five first-half fouls and made all eight of their attempts from the free throw line, making it a 19-point game at the halftime break.

Mullins started the second half in a zone, fitting an alley-oop pass to Ross between a pair of 3-point shots – the second assisted by a no-look pass from Khamenia. He got above the rim again for a second dunk as the Huskies scored six of their first 14 points in the second half in transition.

UConn cut down on its turnovers and shot 54.8% after the break, building the lead out to as many as 37 points with a steal and slam from Landrew with less than six minutes to play.

____