Mullins spearheads UConn basketball's 67-51 win over Georgetown in Big East semis
NEW YORK – Regardless of its trap game billing, Friday’s Big East Tournament semifinal between No. 2 seed UConn and No. 11 seed Georgetown was inevitably going to be a rock fight.
An ugly, chaotic and sloppy rock fight.
It was exactly the type of game that Connecticut (29-4) had played twice before against Ed Cooley’s Hoyas (16-18); the old rivals’ previous two meetings – while both swinging UConn’s way – were decided by a combined six points and were infested with smatterings of turnovers and moribund shooting performances.
This one, however, thanks in part to Braylon Mullins’ newfound mid-range penchant, was different.
“I thought we guarded at a real high level,” Dan Hurley said post-game. “Did the job on the backboard, took care of the ball for the most part and survived a not great shooting shooting night because these guys were so tenacious defensively.”
And after a brief pause, Hurley peered down the podium at Mullins, the soft-spoken freshman who sat on the end of the table with his eyes locked on the microphone in front of him.
“And Braylon,” Hurley said with a toothy grin, “Obviously, with a great shot-making night.”
Connecticut built a multi-possession lead by the mid-point of the first half and fended off the Hoyas’ second half comeback bid with sticky on-ball defense, downing Georgetown 67-51 to reach its 14th Big East championship game in program history.
The Huskies forced 11 turnovers and held Georgetown to a 19-of-50 mark from the field, including a ghastly 2-of-16 mark from behind the line.
A slew of airballs and tipped passes populated the game’s first four minutes; only four of the first 14 attempts from the field found the bottom of the net while both teams got into early foul trouble.
Hurley had seen this before. One too many times for his liking against these pesky Hoyas.
After scoring the game’s first seven points and holding Georgetown toothless for the first three minutes, the Huskies coughed the ball up three times in the following two minutes, letting Cooley’s fiery Hoyas whittle away at the deficit one possession at a time.
Georgetown wasn’t perfect either, however, missing 16 of its first 25 attempts from the field and turning the ball over six times before the under-12 timeout.
But neither team could capitalize on the other’s blunders. More 3-pointers drew no iron at all than those that caromed off the back rim (or even those that went in), including those fired by the usually surehanded Mullins. It was the mild mannered freshman’s mid-range and rim game that catalyzed the Huskies’ offense.
As the vanguard of the first-half offense – and with venerable sharpshooter Solo Ball on the bench with two fouls – Mullins carved open lanes to the basket and separated at the top of the key for uncontested step-back jumpers to help the Huskies separate from the Hoyas by the end of the first half.
“That first shot is what it is,” Mullins said of what sparked his game-high 21 points. “I came down, made my next two, and that got me into a flow in the first half. I was making difficult shots and we took that into the second half collectively, defensively.”
UConn took a 32-21 lead into the break, guided by Mullins’ 15 points and Tarris Reed Jr.’s four assists and five rebounds.
Reed finished with a career-high eight assists, dishing four in each half in a surgical decimation of Georgetown’s pressure man defense.
“Having a passing big is very important in today’s basketball landscape,” said Mullins, the beneficiary of multiple Reed dishes. “Tarris has all types of things to his game. If he needs to go get a bucket in the paint, he’ll go get a bucket. If he can pass like that every game, we’re closing people out.”
The Husky bench only furthered Connecticut’s mission to return to the Big East title game – for a much-anticipated third bout with fiery St. John’s – in the second half. Eric Reibe and Jayden Ross added eight points apiece in place of Reed and Ball, with Ross’ two 3-pointers serving as the final gut punches to Georgetown’s comeback attempt.
UConn smothered the Hoyas’ rim-running offense in the second half, forcing four turnovers in eight minutes and only allowing five attempts from behind the arc (only one of which went in). With offensive engine KJ Lewis out for the year, Georgetown’s iso-centric offense belly flopped when Vince Iwuchukwu and Julius Halaifonua couldn’t buy a basket on the interior.
“Great balance,” Hurley said of his team. “Bench gave us a lift. We are thrilled to be playing tomorrow.”
That certainly piqued the interest of Reed and Mullins, who flanked Hurley to the left. Tomorrow. St. John’s. Championship basketball from the Mecca.
“This game needs a game like this tomorrow night,” Hurley said. “Everyone that’s a basketball will be dialed into [it]. It’s exciting. You know there was going to be a third round, and here we go.”
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