Braylon Mullins and Na’jai Hines gave UConn the kind of one-two punch that can break a game open in a hurry, and the No. 4 Huskies used it to bury Ohio State 84-68 on Friday night at a sold-out PeoplesBank Arena.
UConn was staring at a two-point deficit early in the second half, but that didn’t last long. The Huskies ripped off a 24-6 surge over eight minutes of game time and turned a tight high-major matchup into a comfortable finish.
Mullins finished with 22 points to lead all scorers, drilling five 3-pointers along the way. Hines followed with a career-best 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
Colben Landrew added 12 points in his first career start, while Silas Demary Jr. filled the box score with nine assists and no turnovers. Jayden Ross chipped in eight points and three steals in a game-high 37 minutes, and Junior County gave UConn a strong lift off the bench with five points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 23 minutes.
The Huskies were nearly unstoppable offensively, shooting 61.2 percent from the field. It was their first time clearing 60 percent against a high-major non-conference opponent in more than a decade, and the seventh such performance under Dan Hurley.
UConn came out firing. Mullins buried a 3-pointer on the opening possession, and the Huskies quickly built a 7-2 lead.
Ohio State answered to tie it, but Demary Jr. converted a three-point play to put UConn back in front 10-7 at 16:04. Later in the half, back-to-back threes from Landrew and County stretched the margin to six, and Mullins followed with another triple to force a Buckeyes timeout with UConn ahead 22-13.
He struck again after the break in play, and the Huskies reached the U-12 timeout up 12 with 11:19 left in the half.
Ohio State kept hanging around. A 7-0 run trimmed the gap to six, but Landrew answered with a basket and a foul to restore some breathing room and make it 31-22 with 7:42 left in the opening half.
UConn’s biggest lead before halftime came at 4:19, when Egor Amosov knocked down a wild 3-pointer off his own offensive rebound. On the next trip, Mullins drew a charge that got the crowd going before the media timeout, with the Huskies up 41-27.
Still, the Buckeyes closed hard. They finished the half on a 13-1 run and went into the locker room down just 42-40. UConn shot 58.3 percent in the first 20 minutes, but Ohio State matched that number and forced nine turnovers.
The Buckeyes grabbed their first lead of the night early in the second half, and the game tightened up again for a stretch. Then Mullins and Ross hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 12-2 run, pushing UConn ahead 62-56 with 12:02 remaining after an Ohio State timeout.
Hines then took over inside. His traditional three-point play at 9:37 made it a double-digit game, and another bucket on the next possession pushed the margin to 69-56 and brought another Buckeyes timeout with 8:46 to go.
Mullins drilled another three at 7:03 to give UConn its largest lead to that point, and Landrew punctuated the surge with a transition slam at 5:04 to make it 76-60. Ohio State never got back within single digits after that.
The numbers backed up the eye test. UConn shot 30-for-49 overall and 9-for-19 from deep.
Ohio State finished at 49.0 percent from the field and 4-for-14 from 3-point range after shooting 58.3 percent in the first half and 40.0 percent in the second. The Huskies also won the rebounding battle 24-21 and finished plus-3 in turnovers.
The win moved UConn to 4-4 all-time against Ohio State in a series that dates to 1983, with Friday marking the first meeting since 2016.
Landrew’s first career start came with another double-figure scoring night, giving him three in the first four games of his career. Mullins finished three points shy of his career high of 25, and he has now hit a 3-pointer in nine straight games dating back to last season, with at least two in seven of those. He has scored 20 or more points in three of four games this season.
Hines’ 20-point night topped his previous career high of 14, which he reached four times as a freshman. And Demary Jr. kept his early-season assist-to-turnover numbers in rare territory: through four games, he has 25 assists and two turnovers, making him the first Husky with 25-plus assists and two turnovers or fewer in a four-game span in the Elias stats era, which dates to 1996.
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UConn Showed Off A Dangerous Strength Even With Rotation Questions
UConn kept rolling with an 84-68 win over Ohio State at PeoplesBank Arena, and the latest victory offered another reminder of how dangerous this group can be even while the rotation is still taking shape. Braylon Mullins sparked the offense with 22 points and five 3-pointers, while Silas Demary Jr. and Najai Hines helped steady things after halftime as the Huskies moved to 4-0.
The lineup picture was a little different again, with freshman Colben Landrew stepping into the starting five and delivering 12 points in his first career regular-season start. For UConn, that kind of production matters because it suggests the Huskies are finding answers beyond the usual names, even as the staff continues to sort out who fits where and how deep this group can go. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Win Over Ohio State Came With One Bigger Worry
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UConns 84-68 win over Ohio State in Hartford did more than keep the Huskies unbeaten at 4-0. It showed a team getting real production from multiple places, with Braylon Mullins leading the way on 22 points, Najai Hines adding 20 and Silas Demary Jr. filling the box score with 10 points and nine assists. Ohio State had answers of its own from Jimmie Williams and John Mobley Jr., but UConns balance and pace were enough to separate.
What stood out most was how the Huskies handled the game when it started to tighten. Even with key contributors having to navigate foul trouble in the first half, UConn found enough depth and poise to keep control, and the second half brought the kind of response that can matter later in the season. For a team still early in its schedule, this was the sort of win that says a hot start is nice, but there may be something sturdier underneath it. [Read more 🡒]