The No.4 UConn Huskies men's basketball team beat No. 16 Michigan on Friday night, 85-77 at TD Garden in Boston.

A neutral-site non-conference win doesn't make up for losing the national championship game seven months ago, but it was excellent for the Huskies to come out and play so well against the Wolverines this time around.

The Huskies led by 13 at the half, and even though Michigan made a run with about 10 minutes to go in the game, UConn was able to weather the storm to move to 2-0 on the season.

Sophomore guard Braylon Mullins led the way offensively, scoring 23 points on 5-of-12 shooting and going 10-of-11 at the foul line. He also joined some rare history of the last 15 seasons, with Katie Sharp saying he's only the third UConn player in that time to have 20 points or more in each of the first two games of the season. Adama Sanogo (2021-22) and Sterling Gibbs (2015-16) were the others.

UConn rolled over Gardner-Webb in the season opener on Monday night in Hartford.

Last season, Mullins played in 33 games, starting 29 of them for Dan Hurley. He averaged 12.0 ppg and 3.5 rebounds.

There's a consensus thought that he'll be a lottery pick in the NBA if he comes out after this season, and if he keeps playing like this? Then, he could end up being the No. 1 pick overall.

Of course, it's not just Mullins who played well on Friday. Senior guard Silas Demary Jr. had 21 points and played elite defense, as he typically does.

We wrote it all offseason, and it seems like it's coming to fruition: The Huskies may very well have the best backcourt in the entire country.

Former Huskies standout Ray Allen was in attendance for this game, and it made sense on both fronts, since he also played for the Boston Celtics and helped them win a title in 2007-08.

Allen, originally from South Carolina, spent three years in Storrs from 1993-1996. He played in 101 games in those three years, averaging 19.0 total points per game. His junior year, he was a first-team All-America selection, averaging 23.4 ppg and shooting 46.6 percent from three-point range. That mark led the Big East Conference.

He helped the Huskies reach the NCAA Tournament all three years, as they lost in the Sweet 16 (Florida, 1994), Elite 8 (UCLA, 1995), and Sweet 16 (Mississippi State). He was also a Big East Player of the Year.

He went onto a lengthy NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Celtics, and Miami Heat. He was a 10-time All-Star and ultimately earned a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame.