The Huskies beat the Musketeers by 23.
The No. 4 ranked University of Connecticut men's basketball team ended 2025 on a high note, rolling over Xavier 90-67 in a New Years Eve Big East showdown.
The Huskies are now 13-1 overall and 3-0 in league play. The Musketeers dropped to 9-5 but 1-2 inside the conference.
Here's what you need to know.
Solo Ball shines in return
Ball, who missed the game against DePaul, played 29 minutes in his return. He scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He was 2-of-6 from three-point range and 3-of-3 at the free-throw line. He was one of four Huskies in double-figures.
Inside the box score
--Alex Karaban led the way with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Just recently, we heard that Karaban is drawing praise for his NBA Draft prospects. In addition to his and Ball's scoring, the Huskies got 17 points from freshman Braylon Mullins and 10 from Tarris Reed Jr.
--Karaban is now fifth all-time in three-pointers made in program history with 243.
--UConn shot 53 percent from the floor while Xavier shot 43 percent. The Huskies were 13-of-28 from three-point range (46 percent), while Xavier was just 4-of-18 (22 percent).
--Dan Hurley's team out-rebounded Xavier 42-26.
--Xavier actually scored more points in the paint than UConn did (38-32).
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What else went well
The play of Mullins. A McDonald's All-American out of Indiana, he missed most of November with a preseason ankle injury, but he's continuing to make an impact as he gets more comfortable. This tied for the high-game of his young career, as he also scored 17 points against Kansas on Dec. 2.
Room for improvement
The Huskies committed 14 turnovers while Xavier committed 11. Hurley will never be happy with his team committing more turnovers than the opponent and you can bet he'll work on cleaning that up. The Huskies also only shot 14 free-throws, compared to 22 for the Musketeers.
Up next
The Huskies will be back in action on Jan. 4 against Marquette with tip-off coming at 2 p.m. ET.
Also on campus
The Uconn women's basketball team toppled Providence on Wednesday afternoon, winning 90-53. The Huskies, ranked No. 1 in the nation, are now 14-0 and 5-0 inside league play. Sarah Strong had five three-pointers in the victory, finishing with 17. Azzi Fudd had 18 to lead the way.
It's the 52nd straight league win for UConn.
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