UConn finished its preseason the way a No. 4 team wants to: with a comfortable 76-53 win over Purdue on Tuesday night in Hartford, Conn., and with a few useful answers before the real games start Monday.
The Huskies went 3-0 in exhibition play, and the biggest takeaway may be that they’re still sorting out some frontcourt details while a few younger pieces are already making a case for bigger roles. With the regular season set to begin Monday, the preseason gave UConn a final look at what’s working - and what still needs tightening up.
The center situation remains the most obvious item to watch. Last season, UConn had Tarris Reed Jr. in the paint, with Eric Riebe as a steady backup.
Reed, an All-Big East selection, is now with the San Antonio Spurs, while Riebe transferred to USC. That left the Huskies to rebuild the position with Na’jai Hines from Seton Hall and Oskar Giltay from Stanford, both freshmen transfers.
Both have flashed promise, but both have also had to navigate foul trouble early. In the preseason opener, a 72-52 win over Syracuse on Oct.
13, Giltay fouled out and Hines picked up three fouls. In the 78-70 win over Michigan State on Oct.
20, Giltay was again in foul trouble with four, while Hines fouled out.
Against Purdue, Hines finished with three fouls and Giltay with two. Giltay made the most of his 21 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbing four rebounds. For UConn to handle the bigger bodies waiting in the nonconference schedule, both centers will need to stay aggressive without piling up whistles.
Freshman Colben Landrew kept forcing the issue in the best way. The 6-foot-6 forward scored 15 points in 17 minutes to lead the Huskies, hitting 6 of 10 shots and going 2 for 3 from deep.
Over three preseason games, he’s totaled 36 points, an average of 12 per game, and he has looked unfazed by the moment. That kind of start is why some very, very early 2027 mock drafts already have him pegged as a lottery pick.
Braylon Mullins also returned to action after dealing with an undisclosed injury. He played 24 minutes, and while the shot wasn’t falling consistently - 3-of-9 overall and 1-of-6 from 3-point range - the important part was getting him back on the floor. He ended with seven points, two rebounds and four assists, a solid first step back after missing time.
Now the exhibitions are done, and the schedule tightens fast. UConn opens the regular season Monday at 9 p.m.
ET at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., against Gardner-Webb. From there, the Huskies will face seven Power Four opponents in their next 11 games, a stretch that includes Duke, defending national champion Michigan, Arizona and Illinois.
In Other News...
UConns Depth Just Sent A Strong Message Before The Real Games
The final tune-up before the real thing looked a lot like what has made UConn such a difficult team to pin down in recent years: size, depth and enough scoring options to keep rolling even when the rotation opens up. The No. 4 Huskies closed their exhibition slate with a 76-53 win over Purdue at PeoplesBank Arena, moving through the preseason unbeaten and getting a strong all-around showing from a bench that kept the pressure on throughout.
Colben Landrew was the loudest of those second-unit sparks, finishing with 15 points in just 18 minutes, while Jayden Ross, Oskar Giltay and Silas Demary Jr. also reached double figures. Just as encouraging for Dan Hurleys group was the defensive edge, as UConn held Purdue to 32.8 percent shooting overall and barely gave the Boilermakers anything from outside, a reminder that the Huskies may already be close to their regular-season form. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Is Walking Into A Big East Grind Fans Can't Ignore
The Big East is shaping up as the kind of league that can wear a team down before March even arrives, and UConn is right in the middle of it. St. Johns enters the 2026-27 season with a chance to chase a third straight Big East regular-season and tournament title, but Rick Pitinos point about the conference getting better across the board is the bigger warning sign for everyone else. Xavier, Georgetown, Providence, Creighton and Marquette all drew mention as teams on the rise, which is a reminder that there may not be many easy nights left on the schedule.
Preseason rankings only add to the sense that the conference is loaded from top to bottom, with UConn and St. Johns standing out nationally while other Big East programs sit firmly in the mix. For UConn, that means every trip through the league will demand focus, depth and the kind of consistency that separates title contenders from teams that merely survive the grind. The challenge is not just beating the usual suspects, but navigating a conference where almost every opponent arrives with enough quality to make a slip cost plenty. [Read more 🡒]
UConns Defense Is Giving Huskies Fans A Real Reason To Believe
Dan Hurley had reason to sound upbeat as UConn moved through the preseason, with the Huskies opening 3-0 and looking far sharper on the defensive end than a team still sorting out its regular-season identity. The early signs were encouraging across the board, but the most striking part was how little room opponents found from outside, a strong indicator for a program that has built its recent success on toughness and versatility.
UConn now turns to Gardner-Webb to start the regular season, and the real test will come quickly with a demanding non-conference schedule waiting after that. For a team trying to establish itself early, the defense has given Huskies fans something tangible to latch onto, even if the deeper questions about how far that edge can carry them will have to wait for the games that matter most. [Read more 🡒]