UConn Flags Furman Guard Biggest Threat in Opening Round

The UConn Huskies enter the NCAA Tournament with a 29-5 overall record. However, the Huskies are coming off a loss. UConn lost the Big East title game to St. John’s 72-52 at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies made a season-high 17 times and had a cold shooting night.

Next up, the Huskies, a No. 2 seed, open their NCAA run against No. 15 Furman, a SoCon champion. The Paladins are 22-12 on the season and punched their ticket to March Madness by winning the SoCon Tournament as a No. 6 seed.

And if there is one name the Huskies have circled, it is the freshman guard Alex Wilkins. In fact, Alex Karaban and Solo Ball spoke to the press ahead of the matchup and revealed that they had a plan to slow Wilkins down.

“He’s fearless as a freshman. He’s super confident out there, so he’s got to earn everything tomorrow. That’s what we’ve got to do defensively, make everything hard for him. He’s a really talented player, and we’ve respected him ever since we started watching film on them,” said Karaban.

Wilkins leads Furman with 17.7 points and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. In the SoCon Tournament, he exploded for 34 points in the semifinal on 10-of-17 shooting, followed it up with 19 in the quarterfinal, and had 12 points in the SoCon Championship final vs ETSU.

"This young fella stuffs the stat sheet."@ClarkKelloggCBS is impressed with Alex Wilkins of @FurmanMBB pic.twitter.com/EmIgiEibtZ
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 15, 2026

“We know about Wilkins. He’s a great player with the ball, but off the ball, he’s just as dominant. So we’ve got to make sure we play the backdoor cuts and can’t let him cut us. But they also have so many good players on the floor who can do similar things really well,” said Ball. “So it’s about being locked in off the ball, especially with Wilkins, making sure we blow up his handoffs and fix his ball screens. That’s the biggest thing going into this game,” said Ball.

Wilkins has been brilliant this season. He had a 33 points game against Chattanooga and followed it with 27 against UNCG. However, Ball is right, Furman isn’t built around Wilkins alone. They have players like Cooper Bowser, who averages 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and Asa Thomas, who averages 12.4 points per game.

Dan Hurley Sees UConn Traits in Alex Wilkins

Dan Hurley, too, had something to say about Wilkins. However, Hurley says he sees familiarity.

“Yeah, I mean, he’s (Alex Wilkins) got great size and is a really talented player. I think coach utilizes him really well offensively. They do a lot of things on offense, and in a lot of ways it’s like looking in the mirror. We do a lot of the same things. They use him the way we use Silas, the way we used T, the way we use Tristan Newton at the point guard position. He’s got great positional size, and you don’t see many freshmen who are as productive as he is, or who can score at all three levels as he can, while also being dangerous as a passer,” said Hurley.

Alex Wilkins grabs the layup and goes coast to coast! pic.twitter.com/HgDthtmd1s
— Furman Basketball (@FurmanMBB) March 9, 2026

If Wilkins seems like the Huskies’ archetype, then he is dangerous. Silas Demary Jr. is a First Team All-Big East selection and one of the best transfers this season. Meanwhile, Newton, UConn’s former starting point guard, was one of the most productive all-around players the Huskies have seen.

If the Huskies win this game, they’ll meet the winner of No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF in Sunday’s second-round matchup.

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