No. 5 UConn men’s basketball bounced back from their first loss of the season with a convincing 87-76 win over No. 9 North Carolina at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic.
Despite foul trouble for both of the Huskies’ big men and a 26-point effort from Tar Heels guard RJ Davis, UConn used its massive rebounding advantage to secure the victory. The Huskies (8-1) outrebounded North Carolina 43-33 on the glass on the night as bigs Donovan Clingan and Samson Johnson kept the likes of Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram in check.
UNC jumped out to an early start and led 8-7 less than four minutes in, but UConn took the lead on a Clingan layup and never looked back.