After picking up impressive wins over top-25 squads Illinois and Kansas in its past two games, UConn men’s basketball returns home for one final buy game. The 7-1 Huskies will welcome East Texas A&M to Gampel Pavilion for a second-straight season Friday night, with the Lions serving as the final tune up before tougher matchups against No. 15 Florida at Madison Square Garden, a home game against Texas and a Big East opener against a frisky Butler team.
Date/Time: Friday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.
TV/Stream: Peacock, NBC Sports Network (for YoutubeTV subscribers)
Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 204, Sirius/XM online streaming
Odds: UConn -37.5, over/under 140.5
Location: Gampel Pavilion — Storrs, Connecticut
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 85, East Texas A&M 54 — 99.8 percent win probability
The Huskies and Lions have only met once in program history, and that came last year on Nov. 19, 2024. Solo Ball led four players in double figures with 12 points in an 81-46 win.
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It was announced before Tuesday’s game with Kansas that Tarris Reed Jr. would miss the game and was to be considered game-to-game due to an ankle injury. With no media availability before the game, we will not know his status other than what we already know of a game-to-game status.
Getting Braylon Mullins going
Braylon Mullins made his UConn debut at Madison Square Garden, then followed it up with an immediate breakout performance at Allen Fieldhouse. While the former Indiana Mr. Basketball is still adjusting to the college game, it’s clear that he is already one of the most talented players on the Huskies’ roster.
Mullins had 17 points in only 23 minutes in the win over Kansas, and got up nine threes in that span, making three. An extended run against the Lions could help get back into playing shape as he works to come back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the first six games. The freshman was a jolt of offense and energy off the bench against the Jayhawks, but UConn is likely at its best with Mullins playing 25-30 minutes and taking 8-10 threes a game.
Take care of the ball (and business)
It’s no secret that East Texas A&M (No. 310 in KenPom) is not Kansas or Florida, but UConn cannot let its guard down against the Lions. While playing a top-10 Jayhawks defense in a tough road environment is different than taking on the Lions in the comfortable confines of Gampel, the Huskies did cough the ball up 13 times against KU. East Texas ranks 16th nationally in turnover percentage, so the Lions figure to be a good test for UConn’s point guards as Silas Demary Jr. and Malachi Smith look to bounce back from poor performances against Kansas.
It’s also important that the Huskies keep their foot on the gas if they get ahead early. The 4-3 Lions come to Storrs as winners of three straight, and recently erased a 17-point deficit to come back and beat Fairleigh Dickinson 70-65. The Lions kept that momentum going the next day, taking down Army to go 2-0 in the FDU Classic multi-team event.
Ronnie Harrison is East Texas A&M’s leading scorer at 14 points per game, and guard Gianni Hunt was just named Southland Conference Player of the Week after averaging 14 points per game last week in the wins over FDU and Army. Damian Garcia scored 20 points in 21 minutes off the bench for the Lions in the win over Army, and is the team’s best 3-point shooter at nearly 39 percent.
East Texas A&M head coach Jaret von Rosenberg played at the University of Hartford for three seasons from 2006-09 while the program was at the Division I level. He scored over 1,000 points in his time with the Hawks and left as the school’s career leader in free throw percentage. von Rosenberg also served as an assistant coach for the Hawks for two seasons before heading to East Texas A&M as an assistant coach in 2015. He worked his way up to become the Lion’s head coach in 2017 and has held the role since, helping East Texas A&M make the jump to Division I in the 2022-23 season.