Solo Ball scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead No. 4 UConn to a 73-57 Big East victory over Marquette on Sunday afternoon in Storrs, CT.
Silas Demary Jr. added 14 for the Huskies (14-1, 4-0), which included 3-for-3 shooting from deep. Tarris Reed Jr. scored 13 points with nine boards as Connecticut never trailed.
Freshman Nigel James Jr. led Marquette (5-10, 0-4) with 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Chase Ross added 11 and Ben Gold grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Guard Sean Jones was a late scratch for Marquette with a foot injury. He wore a boot on his left foot in warmups.
Marquette hung tough in the first half, holding the Huskies to 2-for-9 shooting from deep to go into the break down 37-29.
The Golden Eagles’ offense could not keep up early in the second half as they shot just 1 of 7 to start the half. That included four missed 3-point attempts as they went nearly four minutes without scoring.
During that scoreless stretch, the Huskies reeled off an 8-0 run to take a 52-35 lead. Alex Karaban started the spree with a layup before Ball added a fast-break basket and Reed converted a putback. Ball scored 11 of his 17 in the second half on 4-of-7 shooting.
The Huskies pushed their lead to as much as 63-40 on Braylon Mullins’ 3-pointer with 6:43 to go. UConn accomplished this despite going 5-for-24 from 3-point range for the day.
Marquette, however, shot the exact same 5-for-24 from deep.
The Huskies remain unbeaten at home against Marquette since the 2012-13 campaign – though UConn did not face Marquette while spending 2014-20 in the American Athletic Conference — and won their sixth in a row over the Golden Eagles at any venue.
This is the first time Marquette has started conference play with four straight losses since the 1998-99 season, when Mike Deane coached the Golden Eagles in Conference USA.
