UConn's Three Keys to Victory in Upcoming Gauntlet
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The UConn Huskies have cruised so far to a 3-0 record against teams that they knew they were going to beat rather easily. But now the schedule for the Huskies gets tougher, and it is not going to be easy from here on out. Four of their next five opponents are ranked in the top 25 at the current moment and two of them — back-to-back games for the Huskies — are ranked in the top seven.
From here, the Huskies have to face the No. 7 ranked BYU Cougars at TD Garden, a place where the Huskies usually find success. And then they face the No. 5 ranked Arizona Wildcats in Storrs. After that they get one more non-conference opponent that should be an easy win and then follow that with a game against the No. 14 ranked Illinois Fighting Illini at Madison Square Garden, or Storrs South if you will. And then they finish the gauntlet with a road game at the No. 25 ranked Kansas Jayhawks where they dropped a game in the last couple seasons.
This stretch is not going to be easy at all, but the Huskies have ways they can come out with wins. They are going to have to stay consistent.
1. Keep Tarris Reed Jr. at the point of attack in the game plan
It has been evident that since Reed Jr. returned from injury in the Huskies' win over the UMass-Lowell River Hawks that he is still as good as he was last season. And if that is the case, keep him as a major part of the game plan.
Especially against these top teams, he can be a nightmare in the paint for opposing teams players. He can be very unguardable at times and that is a major advantage. Keep feeding the kid, he can help carry the offense down low.
2. Keep finding open looks for Alex Karaban
The senior forward decided to take one more year in Storrs than declare for the NBA Draft and so far that is a great decision on his part. He looks like himself again and is getting the open threes and knocking them down.
When you play the top teams like a BYU or an Arizona, knocking down open threes is super important. You are going to want to make clutch shots against the top teams and Karaban has the clutch gene.
Hurley needs to keep him and his open looks in the game plan. He even knocked down a big three in the 2023 Final Four Game against the Miami Hurricanes. He has the gene of clutch and needs to keep getting these open looks drawn up for him. The top teams are going to be scared when he has the ball behind the three-point line.
In honor of Alex’s birthday, what’s everyone’s favorite Karaban moment?
— Step Back Cardiac Review (@CardiacCTReview) November 11, 2025
Ours is when he hit this buzzer beater to send the Huskies into halftime up 13 points over Miami in the ‘23 Final Four
The Gampel watch party went nuts! pic.twitter.com/3r6GcyUTKj
3. Seriously guys, hit your free throws
The Huskies are not going to beat these top teams if they keep leaving points on the board. The last few times we've covered keys to victory over the non-conference teams, we have said that free throws were important.
Seems like the guys are still not listening, they can leave points on the board against inferior non-conference opponents. But they cannot do that against opponents like BYU or Arizona. They will make the Huskies pay and if the Huskies were to lose one of these because they left too many points on the board at the line, it will be one of those "I told you so" moments.
Head coach Dan Hurley needs to make sure they are locked in and get this right. They need to be able to knock down close to 95% of their free throws against the top teams. It will bite them if they don't.
Tyler is a 25 year old Journalism graduate from Georgia Southern University. Tyler is a big fan of hockey, baseball, basketball, and football, and also is a staff writer for Fansided.