Braylon Mullins is impressing in his first week on the job after injury.
It's hard to believe that in the storied histories of two of college basketball’s bluest of blue bloods, No. 5 UConn and No. 21 Kansas, had met only four times.
That fifth meeting came Tuesday night at historic Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., and UConn walked away with a hard-fought 61-56 win. Entering the game, Kansas was 4-0 in the series history.
Freshman Braylon Mullins, playing in just his second college game after a preseason ankle injury, scored 17 points, tying Solo Ball for the team high. They combined to go 6-of-16 shooting (37.5%) from 3-point territory. Eric Reibe scored 12 points and had a team-high eight rebounds, and Alex Karaban had 11 points and six boards.
For Kansas, Melvin Council Jr. scored 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Flory Bidunga contributed 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Elmarko Jackson also chipped in 11 points.
The Jayhawks took a 27-19 lead at the 8:27 mark of the half after a Jackson 3-pointer. That 8-point difference quickly dropped to 1 after a layup and a shot from 3-point terrirtory for Mullins along with a basket by Reibe, who was filling in for injured UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. (ankle).
Reibe was 6 of 8 from the field.
Kansas’ star freshman, Darryn Peterson, missed his seventh game of the season due to an ongoing hamstring injury. He scored 43 points in his first two college games, sinking 60% of his shots and 50% from 3.
Offense lacking
The Jayhawks needed that kind of sharpshooting on Tuesday. They shot just 35.3% compared to 42.1% for the Huskies.
With 14:02 left in the game, the Jayhawks maintained a six-point lead after four made free throws by Tre White.
The Huskies rallied to take a 3-point lead, part of a stretch in which Kansas made just 1 of 15 shot attempts and couldn't rally to overcome UConn.
For the Jayhawks, the loss snaps a 34-game home winning streak of nonconference games.
The Huskies have six games remaining before the holiday break.
They will clash with East Texas A&M on Friday; No. 15 Florida on Dec. 9; Texas on Nov. 12; and Butler on Dec. 16. They close the first half at DePaul on Dec. 21.
Related Stories
HUGE WIN: No. 1 Huskies women are unstoppable in Big East opener at Xavier. CLICK HERE.
GOODBYE AND HELLO: Former UConn football coach Jim Mora says goodbye to Huskies team, gets a warm welcome at Colorado State. CLICK HERE:
BUECKERS to OLYMPICS? UConn alum Paige Bueckers is now on the journey to her first Olympic Games. CLICK HERE:
Join the Conversation
Remember to join our UCONN on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Huskies fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!