HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Braylon Mullins scored 20 points and Nik Khamenia added 14 points and six rebounds as No. 4 UConn beat Gardner-Webb 86-46 on Monday night.
Na'jai Hines had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Colben Landrew added 11 points and five boards, and Silas Demary Jr. finished with eight rebounds and eight assists as the Huskies (1-0) won their 10th consecutive season opener. They improved to 9-0 in openers under coach Dan Hurley, who earned his 200th win at UConn.
Jacob Hudson had nine points for Gardner-Webb (0-1), but the starters for the Runnin' Bulldogs missed 24 of their 31 field-goal attempts. Seth Brown and Jackson Skipper added eight points apiece.
Mullins scored eight of UConn's 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half to push a 19-point halftime advantage to a 28-point lead.
Gardner-Webb missed eight of its first nine shots and had just two field goals in the opening 13 minutes. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had baskets on consecutive possessions just once in the first half as they shot only 25.5% from the field.
Six of the nine UConn players who appeared in the first half were making their debut with the Huskies. Five of the six newcomers had at least one basket as the Huskies led 43-24 at halftime.
UConn shot 55% in the second half and had assists on 15 of 17 baskets.
Up next
Gardner-Webb plays at No. 7 Texas on Thursday.
UConn faces No. 16 Michigan in Boston on Friday.
___
A previous version of this story corrected Na’jai Hines' rebound total to 12.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full men’s basketball coverage here
Jim Fuller, The Associated Press