UConn Huskies Use Second Half Surge Against UCLA Bruins to Cruise to Sweet Sixteen

Jacob Perrine
UConn Huskies forward Jayden Ross (23) dunks the ball against the UCLA Bruins in the second half during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament.

In a battle between two blue blood programs, the UConn Huskies got the better of the UCLA Bruins in a 73-57 win on Saturday night in Philadelphia to secure a trip back to the Sweet Sixteen.

Karaban and Reed Jr. Star for Huskies in Win

While it wasn’t the Tarris Reed Jr. show this time around for UConn, both he and star senior Alex Karaban had themselves a night against the Bruins to lead the Huskies to victory. Karaban would light up UCLA’s defense to the tune of a career-high 27 points, as he knocked down 4 threes in a magnificent shooting performance. Meanwhile, Reed Jr. would continue to be a double-double machine for UConn, as he finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds in a great encore performance to his historic 31-point and 27-rebound outing on Friday against Furman.

Although it wasn’t the cleanest of games for the Huskies, as they shot just 47% from the field while also committing 15 turnovers, their defense put a stop to any offensive run that UCLA tried to accomplish tonight. After heading into halftime clinging to just a 5-point lead, the Huskies would come out of the gates hot to push their lead to nearly 20 points midway through the second half. That offensive explosion by UConn was possible due to the suffocating defense that the Huskies played in the second half, as they held UCLA to just 34% shooting from the floor in the final period.

Another way the Huskies were able to build their insurmountable lead was their impeccable shooting from the free-throw line, as they went 19 for 21 from the charity stripe in the win. When a team gets to this point of the season, free-throw shooting can make or break a team’s championship chances, and the Huskies made sure the freebies count in this game.

UCLA Overreliance on Starters for Offensive Production Backfires

It was a similar game to the Bruins’ first-round win over UCF, as UCLA looked to their starting five to save the day on the offensive side of the ball. Unfortunately for the Bruins, that strategy would backfire against a much deeper UConn team, as they simply could not find enough offensive support to keep pace with the Huskies. UCLA’s bench would manage to score just 5 points, as head coach Mick Cronin refused to dive deep into his bench to find a solution on offense.

4 of the 5 starters for the Bruins would play over 30 minutes in the game, with recently injured players like Donovan Dent playing nearly 40 minutes. This heavy minute’s load for Dent is what likely led to the star guard’s poor shooting performance, as he shot just 2 for 9 in the loss. Dent did make up for that lackluster shooting with his impressive playmaking skills, as he dished out 9 assists to try to give his teammates a chance to find an offensive rhythm.

There weren’t many good performances on offense for the Bruins, as the only player to have an effective night on that end of the floor was forward Xavier Booker, who was the leading scorer for UCLA with 13 points. The one area of the game that gave the Bruins some life was their ability to score off the Huskies’ 15 turnovers, snagging 14 easy points in transition.

Huskies Knocking on the Door of Another Final Four Appearance

After missing out on the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2022 last season, the Huskies seem to be back to their championship level once again. Of course, there are a few more obstacles to overcome if UConn wishes to raise another championship banner, as they’ll face off against the 3rd-seeded Michigan State Spartans on Friday night in the United States capital city for a spot in the Elite Eight.