UConn Basketball Defeats Columbia 89 To 62

UConn basketball won 89 to 62 over Columbia in a tale of two halves.

UConn basketball picked up right where they left off against Columbia following their victory over UMass Lowell. Alex Karaban went on an early personal seven-point scoring run over a span of less than two minutes to erase an early deficit. Blair Thompson added eight points of his own over the first seven minutes of the game to keep Columbia close.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, the score went from a tight, 14-13 contest, to a 41-17 blowout as UConn rained down shots from all over the floor. Of note, Jayden Ross hit three shots from beyond the arc, something UConn fans have been waiting to see.

UConn basketball as a team shot 8 of 16 from the three-point line and brought a 50-27 lead into halftime. The team defense carried over from the last game and held Columbia to just 26.7% from the perimeter in the first half as well as blocking 4 shots.

“I thought the first 20 to 22 minutes were an extension of that last game… in the second half human nature kicked in,” said head coach Dan Hurley.

The second half saw the game drag along, with many more fouls and sloppy play between the two teams. UConn basketball did a nice job in the first half by only committing two fouls, but had eight personal fouls over the first eight minutes of the second half.

Another concern for UConn basketball was allowing Columbia to crash the boards and grab several offensive rebounds, especially in the second half. Columbia finished the game with seven offensive rebounds, something UConn will want to clean up before facing #7 BYU next.

There are things that will need to be cleaned up, but there was also a lot to like about this performance, especially in the first half.

Another W in the books ✅ pic.twitter.com/Lnj1TqMJWI

— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 11, 2025

The good for UConn basketball.

Silas Demary Jr. has to be the highlight for UConn basketball after this game. He did his best Tristen Newton impression flirting with a triple double. He was all over the floor finishing with a stat line of five points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

Jayden Ross has never been someone UConn basketball fans would expect to be a high-volume offensive contributor. That all changed against Columbia as he was able to score 10 points. It is not just the fact that he was able to contribute this game, but the fact that he built off his eight-point performance last game.

If Jayden Ross can consistently give UConn productive minutes and contribute five to eight points a night that would go a long way in taking some of the pressure off Karaban, Ball, and Reed to carry the offense every night.

What was also very encouraging was how explosive UConn looked when they pushed the pace of play. The guards did an excellent job getting the ball up the floor off turnovers and missed rebounds. Expect UConn to keep looking to speed teams up in the future, as this is when UConn basketball is at its best.

The bad for UConn basketball

There was not much to complain about in the first half, and that very well could be the UConn basketball team that will show up the rest of the season. However, in the second half, it almost appeared as if the team took its foot off the gas a little bit.

Having stretches where lapses occur and leads get cut into will end up hurting UConn as they approach a brutal non-conference stretch where they face six teams ranked in the AP Top 25 over the next month.

UConn basketball had a tendency to foul too much last season, and the team reverted back to this in the second half tonight by committing 14 fouls. Sometimes fouling is okay as it demonstrates heavy on-ball pressure, but in this case, putting a team in the bonus with over 12 minutes to go in the half is a bad recipe.

Next for UConn basketball: vs. BYU (Sat., Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. EST)

Next for Columbia: vs. UMass Lowell (Thur., Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. EST)