BOSTON - UConn didn’t have to wait long for a chance to answer the national championship game, and Friday night at TD Garden looked and sounded like a rematch from the jump.
In front of a packed building on the Celtics’ parquet floor, No. 4 UConn beat No.
16 Michigan, 85-77, in the Naismith Hall of Fame Series and opened its nonconference slate with a statement win. The Huskies were led by Silas Demary Jr., who finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Braylon Mullins poured in 23 points and grabbed four rebounds.
Freshman Colben Landrew kept building on his strong start with 14 points and eight rebounds in only his second college game.
Jayden Ross added nine points, and Na’jai Hines and Nik Khamenia scored seven apiece as UConn improved to 2-0. The Huskies shot 41.8% from the field, hit 9 of 22 from 3-point range and went 30 for 36 at the foul line.
Demary, who was largely neutralized by the whistle in the championship game, came out aggressive this time. After UConn’s opener featured just three field-goal attempts for him, he attacked the rim early and later knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season. That came after Mullins had already jolted the crowd with his second triple, set up by Khamenia off a Ross offensive rebound.
The game’s edge showed up quickly. Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, got into a shoving match with Ross after completing a three-point play, and both players were hit with double technical fouls.
Demary and Mullins were carrying the load from the start, combining for 21 of UConn’s first 25 points while shooting 8 for 12 from the floor. But the Huskies soon had to navigate foul trouble across the lineup. Khamenia, Hines and Ross each picked up two fouls before the game was 10 minutes old, and Mullins was whistled for his first and second fouls in a 30-second stretch, sending him to the bench with eight minutes left in the half.
That stretch opened the door for Michigan to hang around. By the time UConn reached the foul line for only its second attempt - after a Demary three-point play around the six-minute mark - the Wolverines had already made eight of nine free throws and trimmed the margin to two.
UConn coach Dan Hurley and his bench were frustrated when the Huskies were called for their 13th foul while Michigan had only six, and that led to UConn’s first technical of the season. The “Storrs North” crowd responded loudly, while Michigan missed three of its next four free throws.
UConn finished the half with a 9-0 burst, and Landrew scored seven of those points. He capped it with a transition 3-pointer that pushed the Huskies’ biggest lead to 13 at the break, 43-30.
Ross opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers in the first four minutes, stretching the margin to 18. Even so, the whistles kept forcing Hurley to shuffle pieces around. Hines, who had already picked up his third foul about three minutes into the first half, didn’t take a shot until he was fouled on a dunk attempt with 12 minutes remaining.
Michigan’s Trey McKenney, quiet early after missing his first eight shots, finally caught fire once Cadeau picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench. McKenney hit four straight shots, including three from deep, and his 20 second-half points helped cut UConn’s lead to nine with nine minutes left.
The technical fouls ended up even at two apiece when Michigan coach Mike Boynton Jr. was hit with one of his own with eight minutes to go while arguing a foul. UConn answered with a putback dunk from Hines and a 3-pointer from Khamenia, and Mullins then buried four straight free throws to push the lead back to 16.
UConn’s nonconference run continues Monday against Wagner at Gampel Pavilion at 7 p.m., followed by another Big Ten test against Ohio State on Friday night at 7:30 in Hartford.
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