Xavier - Report Card

[RayRay34]

Alex Karaban
34-Min. 19-Pts. 7-Reb. 4-Ast. 2-Stl 1-Blk. 3-TO
3-5 from 3 and is now shooting 45% from 3 on the season with 52/45/84 splits. . Clear contender for BEPOY if he puts up these kind of number for the season. He did get stuck amongst the trees and threw up a couple wild shots and needs to find better finishing at the rim and on his drives when challenged by a defender. 3 TOs were a little high but not a concern. Overall another lunchpail game from our captain. Passed Chris Smith for fifth on the list with 243 career threes. #Legend
Grade: A-

Tarris Reed Jr.
21-Min. 10-Pts. 8-Reb. 0-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 2-TO
Did most of his damage in the first half and was a dominant force in the opening onslaught. An almost double-double in an otherwise quiet (by his standards) night. Nothing negative to take aware from this game but we need more Bear!
Grade: B

Braylon Mullins
31-Min. 17-Pts. 6-Reb. 4-Ast. 2-Stl 0-Blk. 1-TO
His most complete game. He looked comfortable in the offense with a couple of nice dishes, including a nice alley-oop to Solo. 5-10 on threes which is the kind of volume he should be shooting every night. Had a couple of sneaky steals too. Other than a rushed Steph Curry three early in the first half, he looked like the projected lottery pick that he is going to be.
Grade: A-

Solo Ball
29-Min. 17-Pts. 2-Reb. 2-Ast. 0-Stl 1-Blk. 0-TO
Brought the whole package. Hit a couple threes and had a really nice sequence in the 2nd where he blocked a shot while harassing his man than drove it for up court for an impressive finish and the "and 1". Defensively, looked better than average.
Grade: A-

Silas Demary Jr.
18-Min. 5-Pts. 4-Reb. 7-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 2-TO
Had a nice start to the game, flashing some scoring prowess. On a night where the sharp-shooters were hitting, he did a good job of getting them the ball. Seven assists in foul-limited minutes is impressive. He's now averaging 5.9 on the year, leads the Big East and is 31st nationally. When his offense catches up, he's going to be a problem.
Grade: B

Jaylin Stewart
18-Min. 8-Pts. 4-Reb. 1-Ast. 1-Stl 0-Blk. 1-TO
Great production from our 6-man. For me he's the most entertaining player on the team, I just like the way he plays.
Grade: A

Eric Reibe
17-Min. 5-Pts. 7-Reb. 2-Ast. 1-Stl 1-Blk. 1-TO
Other than a nice dunk than block on the next possession, not much else to take away. Seven rebounds is nice to see though.
Grade: B

Malachi Smith
22-Min. 5-Pts. 2-Reb. 3-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 3-TO
Looked a little shaky in the first half. Brought his usually good energy but seemed a bit out of control. Not his best and am going to chalk this up to first game back after a long break.
Grade: C-

Defense: B
Offense: B+
Overall: B+

Game Balls - AK, Mullins, Solo
Hair of the Game - Tre Carroll

 

[freescooter]

Not bad but Malachi Smith is a C- player. He don’t shot well and dribbles far too much. His defense is over rated and he is small. Hurley has a penchant for small guards. Don’t know why.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Not bad but Malachi Smith is a C- player. He don’t shot well and dribbles far too much. His defense is over rated and he is small. Hurley has a penchant for small guards. Don’t know why.

Malachi basically won us that game against Illinois and also spelled Silas for critical minutes against UF (9 assists). He's averaging a 3:1 assist to turnover margin and is shooting 45.5% from deep. He sometimes overdribbles and needs to shoot better from the stripe but he's been the best backup PG in the country.

 

[amishboy]

Malachi basically won us that game against Illinois and also spelled Silas for critical minutes against UF (9 assists). He's averaging a 3:1 assist to turnover margin and is shooting 45.5% from deep. He sometimes overdribbles and needs to shoot better from the stripe but he's been the best backup PG in the country.

He's a very good backup PG, but we don’t want him consistently playing starter minutes. So I’m still hoping that Silas gets his act together on defense soon, and reduces his fouling.

 

[storrsroars]

He sometimes overdribbles and needs to shoot better from the stripe but he's been the best backup PG in the country.

You forgot he also makes bad choices going into the trees only to get abused, much like Alterique used to do.

He fixes the overdribbling part and the trees part will solve itself. He should adopt a Taliek mindset. He can be a very good assist machine. We don't need his scoring and we don't want him at the line in crunch time.

 

[Mike Honcho]

You forgot he also makes bad choices going into the trees only to get abused, much like Alterique used to do.

He fixes the overdribbling part and the trees part will solve itself. He should adopt a Taliek mindset. He can be a very good assist machine. We don't need his scoring and we don't want him at the line in crunch time.

He already is an assist machine, and he shows up in big games. 8 assists against Arizona, and 9 assists each against Illinois, Florida, and Texas.

 

[HooperScooper]

We don't need his scoring and we don't want him at the line in crunch time.

His FT shooting % is strange because at Dayton he was over 70% each year. 3 years overall he was 185/250, 74%. So maybe he has some regressing to the mean to do and he'll be fine.

 

[HooperScooper]

Not bad on the grades. My only nitpick would be the grade inflation on Stewart and the offense was probably A- instead of B+. They scored 90 points, 53% overall from the field and 46% from three, 26 assists on 33 made baskets, 79% from the FT line. The 14 turnovers were annoying but I guess that's only 3 more than their average so not awful.

 

[alphasigko]

You forgot he also makes bad choices going into the trees only to get abused, much like Alterique used to do.

He fixes the overdribbling part and the trees part will solve itself. He should adopt a Taliek mindset. He can be a very good assist machine. We don't need his scoring and we don't want him at the line in crunch time.

I thought of AG as well while watching Smith going into the trees only to have his shots seriously rejected.

 

[willie99]

Yet another perfect performance. Took eight minutes to beat a decent conference team on the road

X fans are like WTF, they're hoping UConn is not in their bracket at MSG

A+, and that's before a 30 point curve

Into infinity and beyond

 

[jleves]

Like Hooper, pretty good on the grades - I'd make a few changes.
Tarris Reed B+ 10 pts, 8 rebounds in only 21 minutes and only 2 fouls. Almost approaching A-.
Silas Demary C or C+, the bad fouls taking him out of the game have to stop. With one less bad foul in the first he goes up to B+.
Jaylin Stewart A-, nothing wrong with the grade but it wasn't a solid A game.
Eric Reibe B+ or A-, did just about everything you want from the backup center other than missing a bunny or two and some FTs.
Malachi Smith C, nobody played below C level in my mind and he picked it up in the second half.

Defense A- (way more than the B you gave them), they held them to 43% shooting and 22% from three and outrebounded 32-5 on the dBoards. The D was present pretty much all game except 8 minutes at the end of the first.
Offense maybe a B instead of B+, just watching them, you can see there's a whole nuther level to the O waiting to emerge.

 

[NewBlood]

I want to see Jaylin attack the basket more.

If 2 out of the 3 (Solo, Jay, Ross) are playing well, we will be in every game no matter who we are playing.

If all 3 are playing well, no one is beating us

That’s where we want to be in March. This roster could be a masterpiece when it all clicks

 

[Mike Honcho]

Hurley has a penchant for small guards.

Also, this is hilarious.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He's a very good backup PG, but we don’t want him consistently playing starter minutes. So I’m still hoping that Silas gets his act together on defense soon, and reduces his fouling.

Hurley would absolutely laugh in your face if you told him Silas needs to get his act together on defense. The fouling, I get, but did you hear Hurley last week?

 

[HooperScooper]

Hurley would absolutely laugh in your face if you told him Silas needs to get his act together on defense. The fouling, I get, but did you hear Hurley last week?

I guess he missed this article.

UConn’s Achilles heel last season, Demary was the big guard the Huskies tabbed with turning the team defense around. Hurley has liked what he’s seen so far.

“That kid coming here changed our identity, he changed our defense completely,” Hurley said after the win over Butler. “Just being that point of attack defender that is a ball hawk, he’s got to stay out of foul trouble, but what he’s done for our defense, he’s the single reason it went from the (expletive) it was last year to now a defense that’s going to have an opportunity to be good enough to win a championship.”

https://www.courant.com/2025/12/21/uconn-men-look-to-head-into-holidays-in-best-possible-position-with-sunday-road-trip-to-depaul-how-to-watch/

 

[HooperScooper]

Hurley has a penchant for small guards. Don’t know why.

Hasn't Hurley said the exact opposite the last few years? He's talked about wanting big guards like Newton and Spencer who can see over the defense.

 

[DRBackup]

Alex Karaban
34-Min. 19-Pts. 7-Reb. 4-Ast. 2-Stl 1-Blk. 3-TO
3-5 from 3 and is now shooting 45% from 3 on the season with 52/45/84 splits. . Clear contender for BEPOY if he puts up these kind of number for the season. He did get stuck amongst the trees and threw up a couple wild shots and needs to find better finishing at the rim and on his drives when challenged by a defender. 3 TOs were a little high but not a concern. Overall another lunchpail game from our captain. Passed Chris Smith for fifth on the list with 243 career threes. #Legend
Grade: A-

Tarris Reed Jr.
21-Min. 10-Pts. 8-Reb. 0-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 2-TO
Did most of his damage in the first half and was a dominant force in the opening onslaught. An almost double-double in an otherwise quiet (by his standards) night. Nothing negative to take aware from this game but we need more Bear!
Grade: B

Braylon Mullins
31-Min. 17-Pts. 6-Reb. 4-Ast. 2-Stl 0-Blk. 1-TO
His most complete game. He looked comfortable in the offense with a couple of nice dishes, including a nice alley-oop to Solo. 5-10 on threes which is the kind of volume he should be shooting every night. Had a couple of sneaky steals too. Other than a rushed Steph Curry three early in the first half, he looked like the projected lottery pick that he is going to be.
Grade: A-

Solo Ball
29-Min. 17-Pts. 2-Reb. 2-Ast. 0-Stl 1-Blk. 0-TO
Brought the whole package. Hit a couple threes and had a really nice sequence in the 2nd where he blocked a shot while harassing his man than drove it for up court for an impressive finish and the "and 1". Defensively, looked better than average.
Grade: A-

Silas Demary Jr.
18-Min. 5-Pts. 4-Reb. 7-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 2-TO
Had a nice start to the game, flashing some scoring prowess. On a night where the sharp-shooters were hitting, he did a good job of getting them the ball. Seven assists in foul-limited minutes is impressive. He's now averaging 5.9 on the year, leads the Big East and is 31st nationally. When his offense catches up, he's going to be a problem.
Grade: B

Jaylin Stewart
18-Min. 8-Pts. 4-Reb. 1-Ast. 1-Stl 0-Blk. 1-TO
Great production from our 6-man. For me he's the most entertaining player on the team, I just like the way he plays.
Grade: A

Eric Reibe
17-Min. 5-Pts. 7-Reb. 2-Ast. 1-Stl 1-Blk. 1-TO
Other than a nice dunk than block on the next possession, not much else to take away. Seven rebounds is nice to see though.
Grade: B

Malachi Smith
22-Min. 5-Pts. 2-Reb. 3-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 3-TO
Looked a little shaky in the first half. Brought his usually good energy but seemed a bit out of control. Not his best and am going to chalk this up to first game back after a long break.
Grade: C-

Defense: B
Offense: B+
Overall: B+

Game Balls - AK, Mullins, Solo
Hair of the Game - Tre Carroll

Not sure it's fair to give the defense a B when it propelled our KP defensive efficiency up to #2 overall.

 

[DRBackup]

I guess he missed this article.

UConn’s Achilles heel last season, Demary was the big guard the Huskies tabbed with turning the team defense around. Hurley has liked what he’s seen so far.

“That kid coming here changed our identity, he changed our defense completely,” Hurley said after the win over Butler. “Just being that point of attack defender that is a ball hawk, he’s got to stay out of foul trouble, but what he’s done for our defense, he’s the single reason it went from the (expletive) it was last year to now a defense that’s going to have an opportunity to be good enough to win a championship.”

https://www.courant.com/2025/12/21/uconn-men-look-to-head-into-holidays-in-best-possible-position-with-sunday-road-trip-to-depaul-how-to-watch/

Yeah, what does that guy know!!??!!?

 

[RayRay34]

Not sure it's fair to give the defense a B when it propelled our KP defensive efficiency up to #2 overall.

I ain’t Kenpom

 

[REB1094]

B+ in a game that was over before halfway through the first half and a 20+ point win is harsh!

On the Malachi convo - he’s the only guy on the team that can get from the perimeter to the paint at will. When he’s doing it well, he collapses defenses and finds open guys (hence multiple games of nearly 10 assists). When he’s not, that’s when we get the “pounds the ball into the ground and then throws up trash”

But he’s our backup PG that played big minutes and was a major part of two huge wins (Illinois, Florida). Inconsistent scoring but a 3:1 AST/TO off the bench as well as hounding defense and great energy. Best backup PG in the conference!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Not bad but Malachi Smith is a C- player.

Bless

He don’t shot well

Your

and dribbles far too much. His defense is over rated and he is small. Hurley has a penchant for small guards. Don’t know why.

Heart

 

[freescooter]

Hasn't Hurley said the exact opposite the last few years? He's talked about wanting big guards like Newton and Spencer who can see over the defense.

Yeah and brought in small ones like Cole, Smith, Diarra, Nowell. I get most are back ups but not all. And they get put into starter minutes by circumstances sometimes and it is a problem.

 

[freescooter]

I guess he missed this article.

UConn’s Achilles heel last season, Demary was the big guard the Huskies tabbed with turning the team defense around. Hurley has liked what he’s seen so far.

“That kid coming here changed our identity, he changed our defense completely,” Hurley said after the win over Butler. “Just being that point of attack defender that is a ball hawk, he’s got to stay out of foul trouble, but what he’s done for our defense, he’s the single reason it went from the (expletive) it was last year to now a defense that’s going to have an opportunity to be good enough to win a championship.”

https://www.courant.com/2025/12/21/uconn-men-look-to-head-into-holidays-in-best-possible-position-with-sunday-road-trip-to-depaul-how-to-watch/

I get it. You guys believe Hurley when he says things that support your position but when he says other things like we would win championships regardless of the league we are in, he is either ignored or he was only kidding. LOL!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I get it. You guys believe Hurley when he says things that support your position but when he says other things like we would win championships regardless of the league we are in, he is either ignored or he was only kidding. LOL!

You're almost 3 years past your assertion that there were 50 coaches who could do as good a job or better than Dan Hurley, and your saying you'd name names.

Get back to work.