RALEIGH, N.C. – Tarris Reed Jr. just wanted a keepsake.
After posting 12 points and seven rebounds in a role that was critical to the UConn men’s basketball team advancing past No. 9 seed Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday, Reed grabbed his nameplate off the dais in the postgame press conference room. Solo Ball did the same thing, but Reed took most of the heat.
“No, no, no, we need those tomorrow!” the moderator said.
“Tarris, leave it!” Alex Karaban piled on as Ball quietly admitted he wanted his, too.
In the postgame locker room, surrounded by a number of Huskies who’d been there before, Reed made his case. A video went viral of a UC San Diego player grabbing his nameplate as a memento, and he wanted to do the same.
The only difference was San Diego lost to Michigan – Reed’s former school – in the first round, and UConn survived to play another day.
Admittedly “kinda nervous” in his first March Madness experience, Reed made an immediate impact as he powered through the paint, at one point taking a Sooners’ defender off the dribble, using a spin move to clear his way to the rim and push the Huskies’ lead to seven in the first half. The junior Michigan transfer altered a number of shots on the defensive end and set the screens that cleared Ball and Karaban for their clutch shots down the stretch. He had an offensive rebound and a putback that gave the Huskies breathing room in the final three minutes.
“To see Tarris Reed step up and do what he did for us in his first tournament game, somebody’s going to have to put us down in this tournament for us to go away,” coach Dan Hurley said.
“First NCAA Tournament, it’s a special feeling,” the bruising 6-foot-9, 260-pound center said at his locker, thrilled to make his mark on UConn’s historic run. “Glad we got that, grinded out a win.”
It was an experience he likely won’t forget, but he’ll eventually get that nameplate anyway.
Samson Johnson becomes UConn’s winningest player
Friday’s victory was the 115th of center Samson Johnson’s career, surpassing a four-way tie at 114 for the most-ever by a four-year Husky.
He set the tone early with a block on Oklahoma’s first possession, then scored inside and assisted Liam McNeeley to push UConn’s early lead to 11-2. The Huskies continued their season-long struggle to complete alley-oop passes, his signature plays, but Diarra finally connected with him in the second half for a lay-in through a foul that brought the lead to nine.
Johnson finished with eight points, six rebounds (four offensive) and a pair of assists in his 26 minutes. He and Reed will be critical in the Huskies’ second round game against a Florida team that boasts a deep rotation of bigs.
“It reminds me of kind of what we had with (Adama) Sanogo and (Donovan) Clingan and Samson Johnson these last couple years where they just keep trotting out big, skilled, tenacious two-way players that are all over the glass,” Hurley said of the Gators, who are built to make a Final Four run.
Win extends NCAA Tournament winning streak to 13
There have only been three back-to-back national champions since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty – Duke (1991-92), Florida (2006-07) and, of course, UConn in 2023 and 2024. Friday’s win tied Duke’s modern-era record of 13-consecutive tournament victories. On Sunday, the Huskies will look to become the first back-to-back national champion to make it past the second round since seeding began in 1979.
Crickets from Donovan
Billy Donovan, the former Florida coach who’s been a mentor to Hurley over the years, has not been answering the phone this week.
“Billy’s always been one of my coaching idols, and he’s impacted me in terms of mentors as much as anyone outside of the Hurley clan. He’s had as much or more impact probably than most,” Hurley said. “Although he’s gone dark on me the last couple days here. He’s not responding to texts or phone calls from me.”
Will Duke fans maintain Hurley allegiance?
Duke fans will surely fill the Lenovo Center on Sunday, with their Blue Devils taking the court for the East Region Round of 32 game against Baylor after UConn vs. Florida. The blue blood fanbases don’t normally get along, but Hurley hopes that his brother, Bobby, having won back-to-back national championships at Duke may turn some fans on his side.
“The Duke fans, obviously they have their history with UConn and that rivalry. But my hope in tomorrow afternoon’s game with the crowd, with the Duke people that file in, is that the No. 11 Hurley jersey, that that trumps the petty UConn-Duke,” Hurley said. “I know our fans can be brutal on social and that digital sewer… Maybe the Duke fans maybe help me out tomorrow.”
McNeeley believes he’s due
Freshman forward Liam McNeeley, who struggled shooting just 2-for-13 from the field in his NCAA Tournament debut Friday night, says his focus is on “staying confident” and “playing with more fire.”
“I think that’s what I’ve been missing,” he said.
“He has the exact type of mental toughness and upbringing and work ethic and career success where he could put behind him the kind of a couple of tough games which he’s experienced,” Hurley said of his five-star freshman. “I think it makes him really dangerous tomorrow. I think it makes him incredibly dangerous in a game where he has the ability – if we can execute and get him the type of looks that we’ve got to get for him – he’s convinced that he’s due.”
