NEW YORK — Braylon Mullins scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half as second-seeded UConn never trailed and kept 11th-seeded Georgetown at bay throughout a 67-51 victory in the Big East semifinals on Friday night.
The sixth-ranked Huskies (29-4) advanced to the title game and will face top-seeded St. John’s after the Red Storm earned a 78-68 win over No. 4 seed Seton Hall in the first semifinal. UConn is attempting to win its ninth Big East tournament title and second in three seasons.
The Hoyas (16-18) saw their magic run out after reaching the semifinals. Georgetown missed a chance at playing for its first title since making a surprise run as the eighth seed in 2021.
Mullins notched his third 20-point game of his freshman season and finished three points shy of his career high set Feb. 18 against Creighton. The guard made 8 of 17 and hit three foul shots on a night when the Huskies only attempted four free throws.
Silas DeMary Jr. added 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists. DeMary was UConn’s leading rebounder and helped the Huskies to a 34-25 edge on the glass
The big performance by Mullins offset quiet nights from Solo Ball, Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. Ball and Karaban finished with seven points apiece while Reed was held to six points and seven rebounds after getting a double-double in Thursday’s 25-point rout of Xavier.
The Huskies shot 47.5% and made 8 of 25 3s after eking a pair of close wins over the Hoyas during the regular season.
Vince Iwuchukwu led Georgetown with 11 points, but Julius Halaifonua was unable to follow up his first career double-double in Thursday’s 14-point win over Villanova. Halaifonua was held to 10 points and did not grab a rebound. He sat for more than 11 minutes after getting his third foul early in the second half.
The Hoyas shot 38% and were 2 of 16 from 3-point range. Georgetown also was 9-for-18 on layups
After scoring the game’s first seven points, the Huskies took a 24-14 lead with 6:48 remaining in the first half when Karaban’s backdoor layup followed a powerful dunk by Reed. Mullins scored UConn’s last eight points by hitting three jumpers and a reverse layup in the final 4:16 and the Huskies held a 32-21 lead at halftime.
Mullins and DeMary hit 3s on consecutive possessions for a 41-27 lead less than four minutes into the second. A 3 by Caleb Williams moved Georgetown within 48-40 with 8:54 left and UConn never let the lead slip any closer.
The Huskies clinched it when Mullins found Erik Reibe for a dunk that made it 57-44 with 5:28 left and took a 15-point lead on a basket by Karaban with 3:02 left.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
