Braylon Mullins Scores 23 as No. 4 UConn Gets Title Game Payback, Beats No. 16 Michigan 85-77

Seven months ago, Michigan cut down the nets in Indianapolis and UConn walked off the floor wondering what might have been. On Friday night in Boston, the Huskies got their first crack at an answer, and they delivered it early, loudly and from the free throw line.

No. 4 UConn trailed for all of 24 seconds and beat No. 16 Michigan 85-77 at TD Garden in the nightcap of the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series. Braylon Mullins scored 23 points, Silas Demary Jr. added 21 with seven rebounds and four assists, and freshman Colben Landrew gave UConn 14 points and eight boards off the bench in front of 18,053.

UConn is 2-0. Michigan, the defending national champion, falls to 1-1 in the second game of the Mike Boynton Jr. era.

Payback Starts at the Opening Tip

Michigan actually scored first. Moustapha Thiam, the 7-foot-2 Cincinnati transfer who missed the opener with an illness, threw down an alley-oop from J.P. Estrella 6 seconds in for a 2-0 lead. It was the only lead the Wolverines held all night.

Mullins answered with a 3 on the next trip, and UConn never trailed again. Michigan tied it once, at 7, on an Elliot Cadeau layup at the 15:56 mark. Then Mullins hit another 3, Demary followed with a 24-footer, and the Huskies were up 13-7 inside the first five minutes.

Michigan spent the rest of the half hanging around without ever grabbing control. Roddy Gayle Jr. was the most aggressive Wolverine early, scoring on drives and converting a pair of three-point plays, including one at 6:29 that cut the gap to 27-25. Estrella's tip-in at 4:19 made it 34-30.

That was the last time Michigan scored before halftime.

UConn closed the half on a 9-0 run. Landrew made four straight free throws, Oskar Giltay finished a dunk off a Demary feed, and Landrew buried a 25-foot 3 with 36 seconds left to send the Huskies into the locker room up 43-30. Michigan went the final 4:19 of the half without a point and shot 1 of 8 from 3 before the break.

Demary Runs the Show

The headline number belongs to Mullins, and it should. Mullins went 5 of 12 from the field, 3 of 8 from deep and 10 of 11 at the line, and the 3s came at exactly the moments UConn needed to answer. After a 20-point night in the opener against Gardner-Webb, Mullins looks every bit like the player who landed on the Naismith watch list this preseason.

But the steadiest player on the floor was Demary. The Big East preseason player of the year played 36 minutes, scored 21 on 7 of 17 shooting and did not turn the ball over once. That matters in a game where Michigan's own lead guard struggled. Cadeau, last April's Final Four Most Outstanding Player, finished with 8 points on 3 of 11 shooting, five turnovers, five fouls and a technical.

The point guard matchup was supposed to be a coin flip. It was not. Demary controlled the pace, chose spots carefully and kept UConn's offense organized even when the shots stopped falling in the second half.

The Free Throw Line Did the Rest

The Huskies shot just 8 of 23 from the field after halftime. They still scored 42 second-half points, because they lived at the line.

UConn went 23 of 28 on free throws in the second half and 30 of 36 for the game. Michigan, which was whistled for 27 fouls, made 18 of 23. That 12-point gap at the stripe is bigger than the final margin, and it is the cleanest explanation for how UConn won a game in which Michigan dominated the paint 38-24 and pulled down 13 offensive rebounds.

The Huskies also pushed the margin to its peak right out of the break. Estrella opened the half with a layup, but Jayden Ross hit two 3s in the first four minutes, Mullins converted a three-point play, and Landrew's driving layup made it 54-36 with 15:52 to go. After free throws from Ross and Landrew, UConn led 58-40 at the 14:19 mark. That 18-point cushion was the largest of the night.

Mullins added to it at the 7:50 mark with four free throws on one trip, stretching a 69-57 lead to 73-57 at the moment Michigan most needed a stop.

McKenney Keeps Michigan Breathing

If there is a reason Michigan fans can leave Boston feeling better than the scoreboard suggests, it is Trey McKenney.

McKenney did nearly all of the damage after halftime, scoring at least 20 of the 22 points in the second half and becoming the only player on the floor willing to drag Michigan back into the game by force. All four McKenney 3s came after the break, including triples at 12:07 and 10:42 that trimmed the deficit to 62-52. Another at 9:25 got Michigan within 64-55, the closest the Wolverines had been since the first half.

UConn answered right away. Na'jai Hines tipped in a miss, Nik Khamenia hit a 3 off a Demary pass, and the lead was back to 14 by the 8:11 mark.

McKenney finished with a team-high 22 points on 8 of 18 shooting. Estrella was nearly as good in a different way, scoring 19 on an efficient 6 of 7 from the field and 7 of 8 at the line, with nine rebounds and three assists. Gayle, the fifth-year senior, added 18 points and three steals and was perfect on six free throws.

That trio combined for 59 of Michigan's 77 points. The rest of the roster scored 18, and the bench managed just 8.

Turning Point: The Last Four Minutes of the First Half

Michigan outscored UConn 47-42 after halftime. The Wolverines won the battle on the glass 35-33, held a 15-7 edge in second-chance points and dominated inside. On paper, that profile usually belongs to the winning team.

What sank Michigan was the stretch from 4:19 to halftime. Down only 34-30 and building some rhythm, the Wolverines went scoreless while UConn piled up nine straight points. The deficit went from four to 13, and Michigan spent the entire second half chasing it. Every time the gap shrank to single digits, the Huskies had an answer, and every time Michigan needed a stop, it seemed to send a UConn shooter to the line instead.

Michigan also finished 7 of 28 from 3, which is not going to beat a top five team. UConn made 9 of 22.

The late game was a formality. Mullins made three free throws in the span of 22 seconds to push the lead to 83-68 with 1:54 left, and Michigan's closing push (a 9-2 finish over the last 1:54) only made the score look closer.

What It Means

For UConn, this was the kind of November win that counts for more than one game. The Huskies replaced two first-round NBA draft picks in Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban, and they did it with a roster that is clearly still sorting out roles. Landrew, a freshman, played 23 minutes against the defending champions and produced 14 points and eight rebounds. Hines, a sophomore transfer from Seton Hall, chipped in 7 points on 5 of 6 free throws. Ross hit two early second-half 3s, and Khamenia, a Duke transfer, added a big one. Dan Hurley, who picked up his 200th win at UConn in Monday's opener, got a statement game from a group that is still learning each other, and the win evened the all-time series with Michigan at 3-3. The Huskies host Wagner on Monday, Nov. 9, at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

For Michigan, the lesson is more pointed. Boynton inherited a champion but not the team that won it, and there are holes to fill around McKenney, Estrella and Gayle. Thiam, back from illness, played just 15 minutes with four fouls and finished with 2 points and five rebounds. Cadeau's night is the bigger concern. Michigan needs its point guard to look like last April's version if this roster is going to contend again in the Big Ten. Next up is Marquette on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in Ann Arbor.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab) and ESPN's box score and play by play (opens in a new tab). Catch up on UConn's opener against Gardner-Webb and Michigan's opening win over Oakland.

Sources: UConn Athletics official box score and game preview, ESPN box score, play by play and team stats, Field Level Media preview, UConn and Michigan Athletics schedules. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

One game in November does not erase an April night in Indianapolis. But UConn walked into Boston wanting a measure of payback, and the Huskies left with exactly that.

Photo: UConn Athletics (file photo).