The Huskies look to start 6-0 in Big East play for first time since 2001-02 season.
The No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team (15-1, 5-0) is looking to start 6-0 in Big East play for the first time since the 2001-02 conference season as the Huskies host DePaul (10-6, 2-3) on Saturday afternoon at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.
The Blue Demons rank No. 111 in KenPom, with the No. 203 offense in the country, and 125th in NET. The overall numbers have improved slightly since the Huskies last clash with them on Dec. 21. The offensive metrics have been going the opposite direction, but what’s been carrying them is their defense. DePaul’s defense is No. 49 in the country according to KenPom and sixth in the Big East. They’ve won back-to-back games heading into Saturday.
As for UConn, they sit at No. 8 in both KenPom and NET. The Huskies are fresh off their most surprising win of the year, pulling off a 13-point comeback win on the road Wednesday night against Providence behind four scorers with 20-plus points. They are in the midst of an 11-game winning streak and are coming off of a program-record 18 threes in the win over the Friars.
Last time the Huskies and Blue Demons faced off, UConn rebounded from a slow start and picked up a convincing 72-54 win without the services of Solo Ball, who was out with a wrist injury. They’ll look for the season sweep on Saturday.
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 10, 12:30 p.m. EST
TV: TNT, truTV
Stream: HBO Max
Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 201, Sirius/XM online streaming
Odds: As of press time, the odds were not posted and will be added once available.
Location: PeoplesBank Arena — Hartford, Connecticut
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 77, DePaul 57 — 96 percent win probability
Series History
The Huskies and Blue Demons have played 23 times in their history with all but one of those matchups coming in Big East play. UConn has a 22-1 record against DePaul in a series that dates back to 2004, where the Huskies first played the Blue Demons in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They last faced off on Dec. 21, 2025 when UConn beat DePaul, 72-54 at Wintrust Arena. Alex Karaban led three Huskies in double figures with 21 points, while Tarris Reed Jr. had a double-double.
Inactives
As of writing, no Huskies are expected to appear on the injury report when it releases Saturday morning. Jayden Ross returned from a two-game absence in the Providence game, but only played one minute off the bench.
What to Watch For
Demary and Mullins Breaking Out?
Silas Demary Jr. is coming off his best game of his career on Wednesday when he put up a stat line of 23 points, 15 assists and five steals. Since the game against the Blue Demons on Dec. 21, he’s averaging 13.8 points and 8.3 assists a night and asserting himself as the floor general that Dan Hurley brought him in to be.
He’s also improved on his 3-point shooting, going 9-14 from deep in his last four games, a significant jump from his 3-15 start in his first 12 games. Demary Jr. is now up to 41.4 percent from three season, and it’s forcing defenses to make even more decisions against an already tough Huskies offense.
Braylon Mullins has been on a similarly good run in that same time frame as well. The freshman is averaging 14 points per game over his past four, playing an average of 32 minutes a night during that stretch. Mullins has hit 14-31 from three during that time, including a pair of 6-10 and 5-10 performances against Providence and Xavier. The rookie is growing more comfortable in the offense as he looks healthy after missing a month with a foot injury. He’s also making strides on the defensive end, picking up multiple steals in three of his last four games.
Don’t see this everyday
DePaul as a program has been one of the most mediocre high-major teams this decade. They’ve finished over .500 in Big East play just once and gone winless in conference play twice. Since UConn rejoined the conference for the 2020-21 season, the Blue Demons have won 17 total conference games as of Saturday. Meanwhile, the Huskies won 18 in the 2023-24 season alone.
Despite all of this, the Blue Demons are actually coming into Hartford playing some really good basketball. DePaul has won back-to-back games, a pair of home wins over Xavier and Georgetown. DePaul’s defense held Georgetown to just one made field goal in the second half, tying the NCAA record in the shot clock era. The Hoyas couldn’t buy a bucket after halftime, finishing the period with just 15 points. Even with a historic half on the defensive end, the Blue Demons still only squeaked out a 56-50 win, so their offense wasn’t spectacular either.
Avoid the Blue Demons’ Trap
UConn heads to Hartford coming off its best win of the year in Friartown, so it may be easy to overlook a game against a team like the Blue Demons. With how DePaul is playing, it’s highly possible that this could be some sort of trap game for the Huskies with another short turnaround with them playing again on Tuesday at Seton Hall.
Hurley has had some gripes about this stretch of the schedule, in which UConn has four games in just 10 days, but the Huskies have to put their impressive comeback win behind them and take care of business against DePaul. Saturday’s matchup should be an opportunity for the defense to bounce back after a rough showing against Providence. The Friars shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the first half, and he Huskies allowed 98 points in 45 minutes of game action, a season high. When they last played DePaul, they gave up 54, their smallest amount allotted to a high major this season.
Battle on the Block
NJ Benson and Tarris Reed Jr. went toe-to-toe inside on the Dec. 21 matchup, so I’d expect similar results on Saturday. Benson is coming off of a 16-rebound and three block performance against Georgetown, and had seven points and eight boards in just 23 minutes when he faced the Huskies. Reed is fresh off a dominant second half in Providence, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. He had 14 and 11 in Chicago last month.
Where Did the Bench Go?
The talk of the town all year surrounding the Huskies is how deep they can go and how productive the bench and second unit is as a whole. That group was essentially non-existent on Wednesday outside of Jaylin Stewart, who was one of the main reasons the Huskies were able to comeback and win the game. The bench only accounted for three of the 103 UConn points, all of which coming on a clutch transition three from Stewart during the late push.
Eric Reibe played eight minutes, Malachi Smith played four and Jayden Ross just one. None of them scored, resulting in by far the fewest bench points for the Huskies all year. This certainly isn’t the beginning of the downfall for the UConn bench, but most likely the opposite.
For as good as Demary was in that game, the Georgia transfer has dealt with foul trouble issues all season, requiring Smith to hold down the fort. Same thing with Reed and Reibe. As for Ross, returning from a multi-week absence takes time, and the junior may still need more of it before he returns to his pre-injury stamina. Games like Wednesday happen during the season; what’s important is how those reserves respond on Saturday and beyond.
Category: General Sports