UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. elevates his game en route to Final Four

WASHINGTON — As the UConn Huskies stepped onto the podium Sunday night to be honored as the NCAA East Regional champions, it was fitting that senior Tarris Reed Jr. was the first player to put hands on the trophy.

Though the 6-foot-10 center wasn’t even on the floor when the game was won, he was the UConn player who had perhaps the greatest impact on the outcome.

Freshman guard Braylon Mullins will forever be remembered for his from-the-logo, 35-foot 3-pointer — his only made three of the game — that gave the Huskies a miraculous 73-72 win over Duke and sent coach Dan Hurley’s program to its third Final Four in the past four years. It was a sensational social media moment.

But before Mullins cemented his spot in March Madness lore, Reed single-handedly kept the Huskies alive on a night in which they trailed by as many as 19 points and appeared ready to be blown out of Capital One Arena.

“This team’s got NBA players, NBA-level talent,” Hurley said. “A guy like Tarris Reed is just elevating his game for this tournament and changing his legacy, changing his trajectory. … It looks like he’s playing himself into the first round [of the NBA draft].”

Reed scored a team-high 26 points and was UConn’s only starter to make more than half of his shots, shooting 10-for-16 from the field. He also led or tied for the team high in rebounds (nine), blocks (four), assists (three) and steals (two).

It was a game in which plenty of eyes were on Duke’s Cameron Boozer, the 2025-26 National Player of the Year, who posted 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

By game’s end, you could argue that Reed was the more impactful player.

“This is just an incredible feeling,” Reed said after the game, a piece of net dangling from his Final Four hat. “My family is here, and to do this in front of them is great.”

Reed’s effect on the game was subtle. He scored 12 points in the game’s opening 10 minutes, proving to be the only real offensive threat on a UConn team that hit just one of its first 18 shots from 3-point range.

“What the hell did you just say, 1-for-18?” Hurley said after the game, burying his head in his hands when asked about his team’s struggles from long range. “I knew it was bad. You’re not going to get good looks vs. Duke or great defense. When you play great defenses, the windows are tighter.”

Reed, who transferred to UConn in the summer of 2024 after playing his first two years at Michigan, made just one shot in the game’s final five minutes. But Reed’s success in the post forced Duke defenders to sag onto him, which helped create space for UConn’s shooters.

After the atrocious start from beyond the arc, the Huskies completed their comeback by making four of their last five 3-pointers.

“Even in the first half where I had a couple of turnovers and where Boozer blocked me from behind a couple times, going into the media timeouts they were telling me, ‘Yo, if they’re going to come and double, kick out to the corners,’ ” Reed said. “Being able to take my time and seeing the whole floor … knowing they were going to collapse on me in the post — trust my shooters and trust the guys around me.”

He was surrounded by three defenders in the low block when he found Solo Ball open for a layup that cut the Duke lead to 67-60 with 4:49 left on the clock.

Later, it was a steal by Reed that led to a 3-pointer by Alex Karaban that brought the Huskies within one, 70-69, with 50 seconds remaining. That proved to be a key sequence leading to the season-saving shot by Mullins with just under a second remaining.

“Coach gets mad at me all the time in practice: ‘Don’t steal, don’t reach,’ ” Reed said. “This is the game on the line. This is my career on the line. I was going for it all.”

For a guy who had little impact in UConn’s two NCAA tournament games last year as the Huskies were eliminated by eventual champion Florida in the second round, Reed has posted monster numbers in his team’s current run.

He scored 20 points in Friday’s Sweet 16 win over Michigan State and had a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) in a second-round victory over UCLA on March 22.

But Reed’s opening-round dominance against Furman — 31 points and 27 rebounds — was historic. It marked the first 30-point, 25-rebound NCAA tournament game in 58 years, as Reed joined Elvin Hayes and Jerry Lucas as the only players in NCAA tournament history to reach those numbers.

“He’s a top two or three center in the country,” Hurley said after Reed’s first-round performance. “When Tarris just plays like a top 10 or 15 center in the country, then we’re not an elite team. When he plays like that, we can win any game against any team in the tournament.”

Which means Hurley puts the chances of UConn winning a national championship in Indianapolis next week largely on Reed’s shoulders.

As the competition gets tougher against Illinois in the national semifinals and either Arizona or Michigan awaiting in the national championship, it would be hard for Reed to match the numbers he put up in the opening round against a No. 15 seed. But if he gives the Huskies 20 points and 10 rebounds, Hurley likes his team’s chances.

Reed was actually on the bench when Mullins hit his clutch shot, having been subbed out as Hurley opted for quicker defenders with his team trailing in the final seconds. But no one celebrated the shot that sent UConn to the Final Four more than Reed, who ran toward the Huskies faithful behind the bench and high-fived everyone who offered a hand.

He even stood in front of the school’s band, where he feigned leading the group in song.

“We set out to go to the Final Four, and now we’re on our way,” Reed said. “To be able to reach our goal, this is a blessing.”

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