Tarris Reed Jr. made quite an impression in his return from a hamstring injury, pouring in 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as No. 4 UConn cruised to a 110-47 victory over UMass Lowell Friday night in Hartford, Conn.
Reed shot 9-of-12 from the floor for the Huskies (2-0) as he recorded the sixth 20-point effort of his career.
Silas Demary Jr. scored 16 points and dished out seven assists while Solo Ball (14), Malachi Smith (14), Alex Karaban (13), Eric Reibe (11) and Jaylin Stewart (10) also scored in double figures.
UMass Lowell, which has 12 new players this season, was overwhelmed from the jump. Jared Frey scored 12 to lead the River Hawks (1-1). Xavier Spencer added 11.
Ball scored five points to help fuel an 11-0 game-opening run for the Huskies.
UMass Lowell didn’t score until the 16:19 mark of the first half when Austin Green split two free throws.
But back-to-back 3-pointers from Ball and Karaban kept the impressive start rolling for UConn, which led 17-1 with 15:33 to go.
It was 26-2 after Smith pulled up from the top of the 3-point line, drilled a shot while getting knocked to the floor, then hit the ensuing free throw.
By the midway point of the half, the Huskies led 35-2 after Stewart’s 3-pointer. The lead grew to 41 when Jacob Ross threw down a dunk off a steal for a 44-3 advantage with 7:37 to play.
The River Hawks missed their first 17 shots from the floor before Green made a jumper with 6:20 left that made the score 48-7.
UConn led 64-17 at halftime, marking its largest lead at the half in program history, and made the second half a formality on its way to its 35th consecutive nonconference win at home.
The Huskies hit the century mark when Stewart made two free throws with 6:45 to go to put his team up 101-38. It was UConn’s first time reaching triple digits since beating DePaul 101-65 on Feb. 14, 2024.
