On a UConn team shooting 36.4% from 3-point territory, the big men are the sharpest shooters of them all.

Tarris Reed Jr.’s field goal percentage on the season stands at 64.8%, including his 7-of-7 shooting performance in UConn’s 92-60 win over Xavier on Tuesday.

And then there’s freshman Eric Reibe, just a few ticks behind at 64.3%.

Reed is shooting 95% over his past three games, going 19 of 20 for the Huskies (22-1, 12-0 Big East.)

His shots, of course, are not coming from long distance – he’s 0 for 3 from that range on the season – but rather from the inside. The 6-foot-11 Reed has helped himself with his 46 offensive rebounds on the season, and his teammates also have a knack for finding him under the hoop. They are averaging 18.5 assists per game and had 26 against Xavier.

UConn scored 46 points in the paint, too.

Reed’s teammates have confidence in him, he said Tuesday after the game.

“During shootaround today. coach [Dan Hurley] -- he said something that really stuck to me, saying like, ‘This is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity playing for a top three team in the country and, you know, like go out there and just hoop and have fun.’

“So, feel like just really having the trust of the coaching staff, my teammates right here with me, just overall really trusted me. I feel like the touch on the rim just been just an effect of us just buying into the product.”

Reed was 8-of-9 shooting against Providence on Jan. 27, then made all four of his shot attempts at Creighton on Saturday.

Reed is part of a formidable 1-2 punch at the center position, where Reibe has turned into a solid understudy. Opponents can’t exactly breathe easy when Reed leaves the game and Reibe comes in.

“We've got two centers that can really rotate in and be as good as, or be as good or better than, any two-center tandem in the league,” Hurley said.

The 7-foot-1 Reibe was 5-for-6 shooting and scored 14 points against Xavier. Over his past three games, he’s missed only one shot – like Reed. He’s 13-of-14 shooting (92.9%) in that span.

That’s in line with Hurley’s expectations for his big men.

“If you look at our centers’ production going back to ’23, if our centers aren't shooting 65% or higher from the field, it's like stunning. So, you know, just the shots that they're able to get as rollers, as post-up players, as guys that are involved in off-ball screening and releasing, I think he's just getting a great understanding and we're getting better at post feeding him,” Hurley said of Reed.

“With him and Eric, with the way that we have them play … allows them to be super-efficient.”

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