- - No. 4 UConn cruises past Marquette to stay atop Big East

Field Level MediaJanuary 4, 2026 at 11:46 PM

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UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley coaches in the first half of the NCAA basketball game against the Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati on Dec. 31, 2025. (Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Solo Ball scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead No. 4 UConn to a 73-57 Big East victory over Marquette on Sunday afternoon in Storrs, Conn.

Silas Demary Jr. added 14 points for the Huskies (14-1, 4-0), which included 3-for-3 shooting from deep. Tarris Reed Jr. scored 13 points with nine boards as UConn never trailed.

Freshman Nigel James Jr. led Marquette (5-10, 0-4) with 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Chase Ross added 11, and Ben Gold grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Guard Sean Jones was a late scratch for Marquette with a foot injury. He wore a boot on his left foot in warmups.

Marquette hung tough in the first half, holding the Huskies to 2-for-9 shooting from deep to go into the break down 37-29.

The Golden Eagles' offense could not keep up early in the second half as they shot just 1 of 7 to start the half. That included four missed 3-point attempts as they went nearly four minutes without scoring.

During that scoreless stretch, the Huskies reeled off an 8-0 run to take a 52-33 lead. Alex Karaban started the spree with a layup before Ball added a fast-break basket and Reed converted a putback. Ball scored 11 of his 17 in the second half on 4-of-7 shooting.

The Huskies pushed their lead to as much as 63-40 on Braylon Mullins' 3-pointer with 6:43 to go. UConn accomplished this despite going 5-for-24 from 3-point range for the day.

Marquette, however, shot the exact same 5-for-24 from deep.

The Huskies remain unbeaten at home against Marquette since the 2011-12 campaign - though UConn did not face Marquette while spending 2014-20 in the American Athletic Conference -- and won their sixth in a row over the Golden Eagles at any venue.

This is the first time Marquette has started conference play with four straight losses since the 1998-99 season, when Mike Deane coached the Golden Eagles in Conference USA.

--Field Level Media

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Source: “AOL Sports”