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12/16 22:03 CST Solo Ball scores career-high 26 to power No. 5 UConn past
Butler 79-60 in Huskies' Big East opener
Solo Ball scores career-high 26 to power No. 5 UConn past Butler 79-60 in
Huskies' Big East opener
By JIM FULLER
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) --- Solo Ball scored a career-high 26 points and Tarris
Reed Jr. added 16 as No. 5 UConn began Big East play Tuesday night with a 79-60
victory over Butler.
Jayden Ross had 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench and Braylon Mullins
scored 12. The tenacious Huskies (11-1, 1-0) held Butler 30 points below its
season average after the Bulldogs entered shooting 49% from the field.
Drayton Jones had nine of his 13 points in the first half for Butler (8-3,
1-1). Azavier Robinson and Evan Haywood finished with 10 apiece.
UConn improved to 12-0 against Butler. Their first meeting came in the 2011
NCAA championship game.
The Bulldogs made five of their first eight shots but missed 20 of the next 23
before Michael Ajayi's putback beat the halftime buzzer.
Butler missed its first 11 attempts in the second half before Haywood hit a
corner 3-pointer with 14:24 left. Before that, Butler was shooting just 21%.
But then the Bulldogs hit five of seven shots with a trio of 3s to cut into the
UConn lead. The Bulldogs were within 11 when Mullins grabbed a tough rebound
and got the ball ahead to Silas Demary Jr., who set up Ross' dunk for one of
his 11 assists. On the next Huskies possession, Ross assisted on Reed's dunk.
The most memorable offensive rebound in the game came when Ross soared above
the rim to slam home a missed shot by Ball.
Butler used a 9-0 spurt to take an early seven-point lead, but Mullins, Ball
and Reed combined for 15 points during a 17-3 run by the Huskies.
Up next Butler plays Northwestern in the Indy Classic on Saturday. UConn visits DePaul on Sunday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball |
