UConn vs. UMass-Lowell Takeaways: Huskies Center Looks Dominant
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The UConn Huskies came into their second game of the year against the UMass-Lowell River Hawks, at 1-0 after defeating the New Haven Chargers in their opener. The Huskies added another win to improve to 2-0 after blowing the River Hawks out of the building of PeoplesBank Arena 110-47.
The game was pretty much over from the start as the River Hawks defensive game was not strong at all and the Huskies were pretty much getting any shot that they wanted. The Huskies were playing their game, getting steals, getting open 3's, getting easy dunks and layups. Anything the Huskies wanted, they were getting.
The Huskies at one point led 37-2 and kept running away from it there. So much so, their halftime lead of 47 points made UConn history for the highest ever lead they have ever had at halftime. That is quite an accomplishment. Outside of that, there are a lot of positives for the Huskies to take from this game.
UConn's largest halftime lead in program history prior to tonight was 40... it's now 47 https://t.co/MflqhLZcWN
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 8, 2025
1. Tarris Reed Jr looked absolutely dominant
The young UConn center looked about as good as head coach Dan Hurley could have asked for from start to finish of this game. He just looked like his old self, grabbing rebounds, getting easy buckets, dishing the ball to teammates for easy buckets.
The kid was everywhere. He finished the game 9-12 from the field with 20 points and also shot 1-2 from the free-throw line. This was also Reed's first game of the year as he had previously been recovering from an injury.
Rust was expected for Reed, but that was not the case. If he can stay healthy all year long, other teams should be scared.
2. Silas Demary Jr. was very good all night long
Every time Demary Jr. was out on the court in this one, it felt like he was noticeable. Just being an all-around team player sharing the ball but controlling the point and finding the open shot. He was finding open looks all game long.
He finished the game 6-7 from the field to go along with 16 points and 7 assists. What a night for the kid, he is just getting used to being in Hurley's system, but he had an excellent game.
The more up to speed he gets, the better for him and his teammates. He can really help lead UConn to a deep NCAA Tournament run if he can play like this way more often than not.
3. The three-point shooting was strong especially from Malachi Smith
Against an opponent like the River Hawks, teams like UConn are going to run plays they do not usually run or take shots they do not usually take. Teams of UConn's caliber can make non-conference opponents like this look real silly and that is exactly what happened.
The Huskies shot 9-23 from three-point land which is 39.1% which is very good. And they got a lot of help from newcomer Malachi Smith as he shot 3-4 from the three-point arc, one banking in off the glass for an and-one.
The Huskies need to make threes at a consistent basis all-yearlong if they want to find success. They have a lot of tough opponents on the schedule so making threes is imperative.
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.