UConn men’s basketball wraps up its exhibition slate Tuesday night in Hartford, as the Huskies welcome Purdue to PeoplesBank Arena in a rematch of the 2024 national championship game. Both teams head into this matchup as their final exhibition games with 2-0 exhibition records. The Boilermakers have taken down Ball State and Purdue Fort Wayne in preseason play, while UConn boasts wins over Syracuse and No. 6 Michigan State.
Purdue enters this matchup ranked No. 24 in KenPom and receiving votes in the preseason AP poll. Head coach Matt Painter will have to deal with life without Braden Smith, one of the top point guards in the recent history of college basketball. Purdue was not active in the transfer portal, but did land a big fish in Caden Pierce — a former Princeton forward who sat out last season and chose the Boilermakers over UConn.
How to watch
For those local to Connecticut, WFSB will air the game from Hartford, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. The game is also available to stream on UConn+ for $9.99. Randy Brochu will serve as a the play-by-play announcer, while former assistant coach and general manager Tom Moore will provide color commentary.
What to watch for
Braylon Mullins is back
UConn finally expects to be at full strength Tuesday night, as head coach Dan Hurley announced that Braylon Mullins will make his season debut in the exhibition finale against Purdue. The sophomore guard will be on a minutes restriction as he works back from an undisclosed injury, but Hurley will still be able to trot out Mullins with the likes of Silas Demary Jr., Nik Khamenia, Na’jai Hines and Jayden Ross or Colben Landrew to give fans a taste of the potential opening night lineup.
The decision between Ross and Landrew starting probably won’t get made until next Tuesday, when UConn plays Gardner-Webb in the season opener, but is the most interesting lineup battle at the moment. Landrew’s talent and physicality is immense, but Ross’ experience and defensive skills are important too. Both will play plenty regardless of who starts, but the last starting spot could come down to who plays better Tuesday night.
As for Mullins, the Greenfield, Indiana product took advantage of a healthy offseason to get bigger and stronger. He’s rising up 2027 NBA Draft big boards, and figures to be one of the top shooters available in this year’s class. Mullins boasts incredible shooting mechanics, but the numbers didn’t translate last season, when he shot just over 30 percent from three. A better shooting year feels like a given with him serving as the focal point of the offense. If Mullins can do that while showcasing improved defense and the ability to score off the dribble, he’ll end up as a surefire lottery pick in the draft.
Another big test for frontcourt
UConn new’s frontcourt tandem of Hines and Oskar Giltay passed the test of Anton Bonke and Michigan State with flying colors. Now, the duo has quite literally another big test ahead of them with a jumbo-sized Boilermaker frontcourt.
Purdue big man Daniel Jacobsen may be the tallest player the Huskies face all season at 7-foot-4. While he’s no Zach Edey, he’s a very competent big that had 11 points, three assists, a block and no fouls in 15 minutes in the win over Purdue-Fort Wayne. Jacobsen will likely be tasked with guarding Hines and Giltay 1-on-1, and it will be on UConn’s bigs to try and control the glass and prevent him from clogging the paint defensively.
Aside from Jacobsen, Purdue can also roll out 6-foot-11 Raleigh Burgess and 7-foot-1 Sinan Huan. Both play sparingly compared to Jacobsen, but the onslaught of height and length is something Hines and Giltay have not seen so far. With neither Hines nor Giltay as much of a floor stretcher, it will be interesting to see how Hurley schemes up their movement in the post to try and open up lanes for UConn’s guards and wings to drive to the hoop.