UConn Gets Title-Game Revenge, Beats Michigan 85-77 Before a Roaring TD Garden Crowd

Seven months after losing the national championship game to Michigan, UConn got its rematch in Boston and won it. Braylon Mullins scored 23 points, Silas Demary Jr. added 21 and No. 4 UConn beat No. 16 Michigan 85-77 on Friday night, Nov. 6, 2026, at TD Garden.

The Huskies improved to 2-0. Michigan, which beat UConn 69-63 in the 2026 title game, fell to 1-1. UConn led by as many as 18 points and trailed for only 24 seconds all night, according to the Norwich Bulletin’s game analysis.

How the UConn Michigan rematch turned

The game swung at the end of the first half. Michigan cut UConn’s lead to 25-22 with 7:47 left before halftime, then went scoreless over the final 4:30 of the half while the Huskies closed on a 9-0 run, capped by a last-possession 3-pointer, for a 43-30 halftime lead, Michigan Athletics reported. An 8-0 UConn run early in the second half pushed the margin to 18 with 16:23 left.

Demary, the preseason Big East player of the year, scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half and spent much of the night guarding Michigan point guard Elliot Cadeau. Cadeau finished with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and fouled out with 2:16 left. Mullins made 10 of 11 free throws. Freshman Landrew added 14 points and eight rebounds after starting forward Nik Khamenia got into foul trouble. “He’s sensational. All the hype is warranted,” Michigan coach Mike Boynton Jr. said of Landrew, according to the Bulletin.

Michigan made it respectable late. Sophomore Trey McKenney scored a career-high 22 points, all after halftime, including 13 in the final eight minutes. J.P. Estrella had 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting and nine rebounds, and Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 18. The Wolverines held UConn without a field goal for more than seven minutes in the second half and cut the lead to nine with 8:09 left, but got no closer than eight.

By the numbers

Michigan actually won the second half 47-42, shooting 47.1% from the field after the break. The 13-point halftime gap was the difference. Michigan shot 41% for the game and committed 14 turnovers, which UConn turned into 16 points. The bigger Wolverines, with a front line of 7-foot-2 Moustapha Thiam, 6-11 Estrella and 6-10 Quinn Costello, won the rebounding battle only 35-33.

Source: Michigan Athletics box score, Nov. 6, 2026; margins are TBR calculations.

A Boston night with history attached

The game was the 11th time since 1996 that the previous season’s national finalists met the following season, according to Michigan’s game notes. It was Michigan’s first game in Greater Boston in nearly 19 years and its first neutral-site game in the region; the Wolverines are now 2-3 all-time in the area. The all-time series between the programs is tied 3-3. Costello, a Michigan freshman, played less than two miles from where he played his high school basketball.

For UConn, the trip continued an early-season run that began with the program’s Hartford doubleheader opener. Earlier in the week, the local college season opened with Boston College’s win over Wagner in Luke Murray’s debut.

What’s next

Michigan returns to Crisler Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11, against Marquette at 7 p.m. on FS1, the first of four November games against Big East opponents. UConn continues its non-conference schedule as it tries to build on a statement win in a building the Bulletin described as filled with Huskies fans.

This is a game recap based on the teams’ official accounts and published reporting.

Sources

• Michigan Athletics: Michigan falls short in championship game rematch with No. 4 UConn (Nov. 6, 2026)
• Norwich Bulletin via Yahoo Sports: UConn vs. Michigan instant analysis (Nov. 7, 2026)
• Previously: Friday, Nov. 6, 2026 scores (UConn 85, Michigan 77)