PHILADELPHIA (WFSB) - The No. 2 UConn men’s basketball team beat No. 7 UCLA with a final score of 73-57.

They advanced to Washington D.C. for the Sweet 16 against Michigan State.

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Sunday’s game tipped off at 9:10 p.m. at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Both the Huskies and Bruins suffered from turnovers early on. Within the first ten minutes of the game, UConn had six turnovers from six different players while UCLA had four.

UConn trailed behind for most of the first half until the 6:53 mark where Jayden Ross tied the game at 20.

That’s when UConn caught stride and made six baskets in a row, taking their first lead of the game with about 5 minutes left in the half.

Alex Karaban picked up his second foul along with Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. who all sat to close the half.

However, with the help of freshman Braylon Mullins, UConn led UCLA 38-33 at halftime.

The Bruins came out strong in the second half, regaining the lead within the first two minutes.

With some back-and-forth, the opponents stayed within two-points of each other until 12:54 when the Huskies pulled ahead.

They went on a 14-0 run for the largest lead of the night by more than 10 points.

But UCLA answered with a fight, going on a 10-2 run and turning the tide.

As UConn regained momentum, UCLA’s Head Coach Mick Cronin picked up a technical foul.

That’s when Karaban reached a career high 27-points.

The Huskies led 63-54 with five minutes left in the game. Their defense had a good hold on the Bruins until the end.

The Huskies drained some points along with the clock to win 73-57.

Channel 3’s Joe Zone called this an “impressive win”.

He said there were two big factors for UConn: Jayden Ross and Braylon Mullins.

Ross came off the bench and scored 9 straight points.

Mullins started to make baskets. He scored 8 points in the first half on 3 of 6 shooting.

Ross and Mullins helped make up for both Tarris Reed Jr and Solo Ball, in foul trouble, spending much of the first half on the bench.

Reed played just 11 minutes, Ball even fewer, just 7.

Reed, so dominant in the game against Furman, scored 4 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in his 18 minutes.

Ball, inexplicably, went 0 for 5 from the field, and scored zero points in 14 minutes.

But Karaban stayed hot, finishing with a career high 27. Mullins contributed to a late run where the Huskies built a 13 point lead. He finished with 17.

Reed ended up with a double double 10 points, 13 rebounds.

UCLA’s leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau was out for Sunday’s game with a sprained knee.

On UConn’s side, both Silas Demary Jr. and Jaylin Stewart were ruled questionable at the start.

Demary Jr., however, was subbed in during the first half.

UConn advanced past the first round with a win over Furman behind a dominant performance from center Tarris Reed Jr., who scored 31 points and grabbed 27 rebounds while shooting 12 for 15 from the floor.

Since 1999, UConn has won six national championships, more than any other program during that span. UCLA has won 11 national titles in program history, the most by any team in men’s college basketball.

The two programs have met only once before, in the Elite Eight in 1995. UCLA defeated UConn to advance to the Final Four despite 36 points from Ray Allen. The Bruins won the national championship that year.

UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. said he looked forward to seeing “these two elite gladiator programs go at it.”

Sunday night’s game made the all-time record between the programs 1-1.

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