No. 3 UConn men hold off late surge from No. 7 BYU to win, 86-84, at TD Garden

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Nov 15, 2025

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BOSTON — There was no 30-0 run, but the No. 3 UConn men’s basketball team took over about 10 minutes into its return to TD Garden and held on during a thrilling finish for an 86-84 win over No. 7 BYU in its first top-10 matchup of the nonconference season.

Alex Karaban thrived on the Boston Celtics’ home parquet, finishing as one of three Huskies with 21 points as he made 8 of 11 from the field and all four of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Silas Demary Jr., who essentially saved the game down the stretch and was named MVP, added 21 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two critical steals. And center Tarris Reed Jr. was a force as he finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Jayden Ross added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench.

A.J. Dybantsa, BYU’s highly touted freshman returning home, was guarded relatively well early on and didn’t have his best start, but he took over in the second half, when he scored 21 of his game-high 25 points. The rookie hit a series of shots late to threaten a comeback. Richie Saunders added 17 points for the Cougars and Robert Wright III had 16.

BYU made it tough on the Huskies’ sophisticated offense by bringing pressure and switching on everything, closing passing lanes with its length as UConn tried to feed the ball to Reed down low early and often. There were nine turnovers between both teams in the game’s first five minutes of action.

Once Reed settled in, there wasn’t much that could stop him.

The Huskies senior center scored seven of the team’s first 12 points. When he took a rest and the Cougars let off their pressure, freshman Eric Reibe held his own and Demary started to get the ball moving in transition. Demary scored seven points himself in a two-minute stretch where he nailed a 3-pointer and sacrificed his body as he flew in over few potential rebounders for for a tip-in that had the crowd, very much in favor of the Huskies, on its feet.

The crowd, which included a star-studded cast of characters like UConn and Boston Celtics legend Ray Allen, as well as current Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, revealed its rooting interests in the pregame introductions.

In the dual-homecoming for Dybantsa (Brockton, Mass.) and Karaban (Southborough, Mass.), Dybantsa heard boos and Karaban got an ovation that was only louder after he saw his first 3-pointer fall, putting UConn ahead, 29-14, with eight minutes left in the first half.

UConn’s lead held in double figures for about eight minutes until the Cougars finally got their first 3-pointer to fall as Dawson Baker hit the team’s first from beyond the arc after 11 attempts with about a minute left in the half. Karaban answered after a Dan Hurley timeout, but the Cougars added another triple from the corner just before the halftime buzzer to make it a 43-32 UConn advantage at the break.

Reed made the first two baskets after the break before Ross brought an immediate spark off the bench with a two-handed slam. For every BYU 3-pointer, it seemed UConn had an answer. First it was Karaban (again), then Ross, who scored eight points in his first seven minutes of action.

Demary, unafraid to drive hard at the hoop, finished a tough layup through contact to extend the Huskies’ lead to 20 points with 15 minutes to go.

But Dybantsa started to heat up and the Cougars, bringing back their full-court pressure, cut their deficit back to single digits from the free-throw line with just under seven minutes left. The freshman took over the BYU offense, drawing fouls as he drove to the rim and hitting a series of tough shots to bring his team within five points around the four-minute mark.

When it looked like it might slip away from the Huskies, Demary finished a tough layup and then a mid-range fadeaway jumper before Reed got to the free throw line to push the lead back to eight with under two minutes to play.

BYU saw 3-pointers fall from Dybantsa and Baker in the final 30 seconds, making it a two-point game with 20 seconds to play, but Demary and Malachi Smith made their free throws and Demary came up with a massive steal up three, allowing Ball to effectively ice the game at the line.

UConn (4-0) returns to Gampel Pavilion for another top-10 matchup against No. 5 Arizona — which has its own stud freshman forward in Koa Peat — on Wednesday at 7 p.m.