PHILADELPHIA, PA — When the clock struck 11:24 eastern standard time Sunday night, UConn head coach Dan Hurley howled his starting Huskies off the floor of Xfinity Mobile Arena, subbing out Malachi Smith, Solo Ball, Alex Karaban, Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed Jr.
At that point, with just 29 seconds remaining in number one-seeded UConn’s Round of 32 rock fight vs. No. 7 UCLA, the Huskies were up 73-57, which ultimately became the final score moments later—sending the six-time national championship winners to the program’s 17th-ever Sweet Sixteen.
To help send UConn to the Sweet 16 in Washington DC, Alex Karaban scored a career-high 27 points against UCLA Sunday night in the Round of 32, including 16 in the second half – Image Credit: UConn Men’s Basketball
Karaban (a career-high of 27 pts), Mullins (17 pts), Reed Jr. (10 pts), along with Jayden Ross (11 pts off the bench), were the driving forces on Sunday as UConn punched their ticket to Washington, D.C.—where the Sweet Sixteen in the East Region of the NCAA 2026 March Madness Tournament will be played—this coming Friday vs. No. 3 Michigan State.
The aforementioned Huskie quartet, causing Mick Cronin’s Bruin defense to falter in the second half, getting outscored 35-24 in the final 20 minutes, each pulled off their heroics to finish in double-scoring figures.
“It’s amazing. Just to be part of the Sweet 16 is a blessing. Every time you win in this tournament, the feeling gets better and better. It’s unbelievable. To be going to the Sweet 16, it’s a blessing.”
-redshirt senior forward Alex Karaban, a two-time national champion at UConn
Also making a winning impact was Silas Demary Jr., returning from an ankle injury, and appearing off the bench on a minutes restriction, and redshirt senior Smith, of Puerto Rican heritage, who has continued to step up in pressurized spots. Both were much needed to claw out the win on Sunday—combining for 10 of UConn’s 16 assists on the night.
In his first two career March Madness games over the weekend and first two starts as a Huskie, UConn redshirt senior guard Malachi Smith combined for 13 assists and only three turnovers – Image Credit: UConn Men’s Basketball
Whereas Demary Jr. had two points, four assists, three boards and two steals, Smith recorded two points, six assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
“Him and Silas today were great for one field goal between the two point guards, that’s where numbers lie,” said Hurley in the postgame. “Their impact was huge defensively in taking care of the ball.”
Silas Demary Jr. said in Sunday’s postgame that his injury wasn’t on his mind leading up to tip-off and he knew he was ready to go once completing his warm ups – Image Credit: UConn Men’s Basketball
Taking care of the glass was Reed Jr., stamping his mark all over UConn’s March Madness run through their first two games to escape the opening weekend. The senior center played in 63 total minutes across the pair of matchups and totaled 41 points with 40 rebounds —31 points/27 rebounds vs. No. 15 Furman and 10 points/13 rebounds vs. No. 7 UCLA.
On how he carried up his historic Friday night into Sunday evening, less than 48 hours between the Round of 64 and 32 tip-offs, Reed Jr. said:
“As soon as that game ended, I celebrated for a little bit, but I desperately wanna go to the Sweet 16. You know, like, last year, we lost in the round of 32, and that broke me. And I’ve never been to a Sweet 16. As a kid, you just dreamed of wanting to go there so bad, so desperately. So just to be here now and just be enjoying the journey, and then build off from that—Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four. It’s like step one, step one in my checkbook, and now, going to step two.”
In the City of Brotherly Love this past weekend, Tarris Reed Jr. put up a two game stretch (41 points and 40 rebounds) that hasn’t been seen in March Madness since Tim Duncan hit the 40-40 mark in the opening weekend of the 1999 NCAA Tournament – Image Credit: UConn Men’s Basketball
A step by step approach is the road map for this year’s Huskies, one of the most complete teams in the country still standing, containing dynamic scoring and versatility on both ends with one of the best coaches there is in the game.
“Any given night, anybody can step up and have a game,” said Demary Jr. “Like J-Ross (Jayden Ross) had a tremendous game tonight, especially in the first half, hitting those big time threes. And him just defending. I feel like for us to have as many guys as we do, anybody can have a night where it can help us lead to a win.”
To give UConn a 38-33 lead after 20 minutes of play, Jayden Ross scored nine first half points in Sunday night’s Round of 32 win vs. UCLA – Image Credit: UConn Men’s Basketball
The victory on Sunday sent Hurley to his third career Sweet Sixteen, with his first two resulting in the Huskies raising back-to-back NCAA Tournament championship titles (2023 and 2024).
“Winning a national championship means more to him than just making it to a Sweet Sixteen,” Demary Jr. responded when asked of the significance he believed Sunday’s win had to Hurley. “But obviously, it’s a blessing just to even make it to a Sweet Sixteen. Everybody doesn’t make it every year, so we’re thankful for it in the short term while knowing what our long term goal is.
We gotta be thankful for it maybe tonight and tomorrow but then start game planning for Michigan State.”
Dan Hurley and No. 2 UConn will meet Tom Izzo and No. 3 Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of the East Region this Friday night at Capital One Arena – Image Credit: UConn Men’s Basketball
Like Demary Jr., taking in his first experience of appearing in NCAA’s second weekend of the March Madness Tournament, Smith is already looking ahead to the next matchup and getting back out there with his teammates.
“I feel good, it’s my first and last year to get to the Sweet Sixteen,” Smith said. “I’m just ready to play and get to the next weekend. I just know we have more and we’re hungry for more.”
Smith and the Huskies’ next opportunity to display their hunger is this Friday night vs. Tom Izzo and No. 3 Michigan State with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line in the nation’s capital—9:45PM ET on CBS.
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