Silas Demary Jr. scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting as No. 4 UConn cruised to an 83-41 win over Wagner on Monday night in Storrs, Conn.
The Huskies (3-0) shot 43.8% from the field, sank nine 3-pointers and scored 37 points off 26 Wagner turnovers.
UConn led 44-18 at halftime. Nik Khamenia scored a team-high 11 points (3-for-3 from 3-point range) in seven minutes of first-half action before exiting due to a lower-leg injury.
Jayden Ross (12 points), Na’jai Hines (10 points, eight rebounds) and Braylon Mullins (10 points) were also double-figure scorers for the Huskies against coach Dan Hurley’s former side.
Demary, who added four assists, four rebounds and a career-high six steals, connected on both of his triples in the second half.
AJ Rodriguez led Wagner (0-3) with 10 points and seven boards.
A 5-for-6 shooting start and three of Wagner’s 17 first-half turnovers helped UConn take a 12-0 lead at the first timeout. Khamenia hit a deep three from the wing to begin the scoring before draining another from the corner, and Hines subsequently added a basket for a 14-0 edge.
Wagner did not score for the first 5:03, but Rodriguez’s cutting layup sparked a 4-0 run. Kareem Watson hit the Seahawks’ first 3-pointer at the midway mark of the first half after Khamenia canned his third trey and Junior County sank a fadeaway jumper for another UConn surge.
A Ross trey and Demary’s transition layup gave the Huskies their first 20-point lead with 6:04 left until intermission.
Wagner could not capitalize on brief momentum from a 6-2 spurt that included a William Patterson Jr. dunk, as Demary completed a three-point play during a personal 6-0 run and a UConn 10-0 surge late in the period.
The second half started much like the first, as Colben Landrew’s three-point play punctuated a 7-0 UConn run out of the break before Taj Bryant made Wagner’s first basket with 18:17 to go. Hines followed with an emphatic dunk — his first of back-to-back hoops — to boost the lead to 35.
Ross dunked during the next UConn string before his 3-pointer with 11:16 left made it a 40-point game. It was the second of three straight triples for the Huskies, with Demary and Nils Machowski also sinking one.
The middle of the half saw Cam Estevez find his shooting stroke for Wagner, scoring three consecutive hoops from long distance. Rodriguez scored three of the Seahawks’ final four baskets.