BOSTON - UConn is heading back to a familiar stage for a fresh shot at a familiar foe.
The No. 4 Huskies meet No.
16 Michigan on Friday night at TD Garden in the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series Boston presented by Amica Insurance, a top-20 matchup that also serves as a national championship rematch. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m., with TNT, truTV and HBO Max carrying the game and Brian Anderson, Grant Hill and Lauren Jbara on the call.
Seven months to the day after the title-game loss in Indianapolis, UConn arrives in Boston with a three-game winning streak in “Storrs North.” The Huskies have built a strong track record in the building over the last few years, winning the 2024 East Regional there before coming back last season for a top-10 win in the Hall of Fame Series Boston.
The matchup also adds another chapter to a series that has been around for a long time, even if the teams haven’t seen each other often. Michigan leads the all-time series 3-2 in five meetings dating back to December 1939.
After that first game, the schools didn’t play again for nearly 70 years before starting a home-and-home in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, with each team protecting its own floor. They met again in the 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis, when UConn won 74-60, and then didn’t cross paths for more than a decade before Michigan’s 69-63 win in the 2026 National Championship game.
UConn opened the season Monday with a lopsided 86-46 win over Gardner-Webb at PeoplesBank Arena. Braylon Mullins paced the Huskies with 20 points, giving him the fourth 20-point game of his career. UConn’s defense set the tone, holding Gardner-Webb to 25.5 percent shooting and winning the rebounding battle by 18.
Nik Khamenia added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Na’Jai Hines finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Colben Landrew chipped in 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Khamenia and Hines both matched their career scoring highs from last season, and Hines collected the fifth double-double of his career.
Silas Demary Jr., the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and a consensus Preseason All-American, didn’t do much scoring with five points on three shots, but he filled the stat sheet everywhere else. He had eight assists without a turnover, eight rebounds and three steals. Jayden Ross scored seven points, threw down a pair of dunks and finished as the team’s best plus-minus at plus-41 in 29 minutes.
Michigan also opened Monday with a win, taking down Oakland 84-68 at home. Roddy Gayle Jr. and Trey McKenney each scored 17 points, and J.P.
Estrella added a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double. The Wolverines entered the season ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll and sit inside the top 30 in most major metrics.
Friday’s game is the first major test in a non-conference schedule that is stacked from top to bottom for UConn. Michigan is the first of seven opponents between now and Dec. 20 that are currently ranked in the Kenpom top-30. It also marks the 11th time in the last 30 years that the previous title game participants have met in the following regular season.
In Other News...
Former UConn Coach Is Back In College Football Again
Paul Pasqualoni is headed back into Division I football, landing on the Florida State staff after a long coaching career that has taken him from head coaching stops at Syracuse and UConn to assistant jobs in both college and the NFL. For UConn fans, his name still carries the memory of a difficult stretch in Storrs, where his three seasons as the Huskies head coach were defined by losing records and little momentum.
Now 77, Pasqualoni is re-entering the college game in a different role, one that keeps him around the sport even as the landscape shifts again in Tallahassee. Florida States staff has been in transition since Mike Norvell was fired, and Pasqualonis arrival adds another experienced voice to a program trying to reset itself while filling out its defensive side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Gets A Huge Early Test In A Rematch Fans Will Feel
UConn is getting an early measuring-stick game in a place that should feel familiar to plenty of fans, with Michigan waiting at Bostons TD Garden in an upcoming rematch that carries real juice. The matchup brings together two programs with recent history and plenty of recognizable names, including UConns Braylon Mullins and Michigans Elliott Cadeau, while the backdrop adds a little extra edge for a Huskies team that will be looking to make a statement.
Dan Hurley has already made clear he is looking forward to the game and respects what Michigan brings to the floor, which is part of what makes this one stand out this early in the season. The series history adds another layer, and with both teams having gone through changes since they last met, this is the kind of test that can reveal a lot before the calendar has even settled into conference play. [Read more 🡒]
UConns Title Push May Hinge On Its Newest Wings
UConns early-season identity is still taking shape, but the newest wings on the roster already loom as a big part of how far this group can go. Ahead of the Michigan matchup, the attention is on the transfer trio of Nik Khamenia, Isaiah Shaw and Jaye Nash, a collection of perimeter additions that gives Dan Hurley more options on both ends and more ways to mix and match lineups as the schedule toughens.
Khamenia brings the kind of size and flexibility that can change how UConn defends and initiates offense, while Shaw arrives with a reputation as a shot-maker who can stretch the floor. Nash adds another layer to the wing rotation, and together the three represent more than depth - they may determine how smoothly the Huskies can settle into the roles and spacing needed for another title push. [Read more 🡒]