UConn men's basketball pulls away for 84-68 win over Ohio State

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Nov 13, 2026

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STORRS, Conn. —UConn had its depth tested in its first game without Nik Khamenia on Friday night, and it held up to beat a talented Ohio State team.

After a rough shooting night Monday, Braylon Mullins made his way back out onto the Gampel Pavilion floor and spent at least an hour getting shots up from all over the court. It paid off as he found his shooting stroke with five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 22 points in the Huskies’ 84-68 win.

Silas Demary Jr. and Na’jai Hines, both limited to just seven first-half minutes with foul trouble, responded with strong second halves to take control of the game. Hines missed only one shot from the field and scored 17 of his career-high 20 points in the second half. Demary came an assist shy of his first double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points, nine assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Freshman Colben Landrew, making his first career regular-season start in place of Khamenia, who sat on the bench with his left foot in a boot, had 12 points with four rebounds as the fourth-ranked Huskies moved to 4-0 on the year.

UConn finished the game shooting 61% from the field and 9 for 19 (47.4%) from beyond the arc. And, after allowing the Buckeyes to make 58.3% of their shots in the first half, the Huskies’ defense held them to just 40% after the break.

Demary continued to be the engine of the Huskies’ offense, keeping pace with Ohio State’s interior presence early in the game as he assisted both freshmen, Landrew and Junior County, from beyond the arc. And Mullins, who made his first triple only 13 seconds into the game, nailed two more in a matter of a minute as UConn ran out to a 25-13 lead.

The Huskies held the line with Demary and Hines each going to the bench early with two fouls. As the Buckeyes cut down the lead, Landrew and Mullins finished back-to-back three-point plays under the basket to maintain their cushion.

The highlight of the first half came after Mullins attempted to recreate his 35-foot shot, albeit from the opposite side of the court, and was off the mark. Egor Amosov managed to snare the offensive rebound, ran to the corner and chucked up a prayer that beat the shot clock buzzer, sending Hurley and the home crowd into a frenzy.

But Ohio State answered with a 13-1 run, capitalizing on a flurry of turnovers as Demary and Hines remained on the bench, to cut its deficit to just two points, 42-40, at halftime.

Justin Pippen, son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen, gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the game with a triple to start the second half and Jimmie Williams continued to be a thorn in the Huskies’ side with his shotmaking and his effort on the offensive glass.

Williams scored 11 of Ohio State’s first 16 points in the second half and finished with 17 to lead the team, just ahead of 16 points from point guard John Mobley Jr.

But UConn made seven consecutive shots from the field and pushed its lead back out to eight with a floater from Demary around the 12-minute mark. Hines extended it to double figures with a pair of buckets under the basket, including a three-point play, that made it a 14-2 Huskies’ run and forced Ohio State into a timeout as it went more than three minutes without a made shot.

Hines had his own shot clock beater from just inside the 3-point arc that essentially put the game away as the Huskies went up, 80-63, with two and half minutes to play.