For basketball fans across Connecticut, the 2025-26 UConn men’s basketball season delivered plenty of both thrills and heartbreak. Among those fans is William Timlen, a New Canaan, Connecticut, resident and certified public accountant whose son Tyler attends the University of Connecticut.
Like thousands of Husky households, the Timlens followed the team from the October tip-off all the way to a Monday night in Indianapolis, where UConn’s bid for a third national championship in four years fell six points short against Michigan.
There was a lot packed into that year: a 34-6 record, a second-place finish in the Big East, a run through one of the toughest NCAA Tournament paths in recent memory, and one of the most dramatic buzzer-beaters in March Madness history.
What follows is a look back at the season, the players who defined it, and what Husky fans can expect when the 2026-27 season tips off this fall.
A 34-Win Season That Ended One Game Short
Under eighth-year head coach Dan Hurley, UConn finished the 2025-26 campaign at 34-6 overall and 17-3 in Big East play, good for second place in the conference and a No. 2 ranking in the final AP poll. The Huskies were dominant on the defensive end, holding opponents to roughly 65 points per game, one of the stingiest marks in Division 1.
The Big East Tournament brought a rare stumble. After comfortable wins over Xavier (93-68) and Georgetown (67-51), UConn ran into a hot St. John’s team in the final and lost 72-52 — just weeks after beating the same opponent by 32 points in the regular season. Momentum in March turns fast.
The NCAA Tournament committee awarded UConn the No. 2 seed in the East Region, and the Huskies responded with five straight wins. They handled Furman 82-71 and UCLA 73-57, survived Michigan State 67-63, escaped Duke by a single point, and put away Illinois 71-62. That run carried UConn to its third national championship game in four seasons, following titles in 2023 and 2024.
The final chapter, a 69-63 loss to Michigan on April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium, stung, but it capped one of the strongest seasons in program history.
The Standouts of 2025-26
Senior forward Alex Karaban closed out his UConn career as one of the winningest players ever to wear the uniform. He led the Huskies with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the title game and was named to the 2026 All-Tournament Team before being selected 29th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Center Tarris Reed Jr. was equally dominant in March. Reed became just the second player in NCAA Tournament history to post at least 117 points and 79 rebounds in a single six-game run, a feat previously accomplished only by Zach Edey in 2024. He added 13 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game and went 26th overall to the San Antonio Spurs, giving UConn two first-round picks for the fourth consecutive year.
Freshman guard Braylon Mullins deserves his own paragraph. The Indiana native missed the first six games with an injury, then averaged 12.0 points per game, hit 72 three-pointers (the second-most by a freshman in UConn history), and earned unanimous Big East All-Freshman honors. His signature moment, covered below, will be replayed for decades. Guards Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr. rounded out the core, with Ball gutting out 11 points in the final on a sprained foot that had him in a walking boot days earlier.
Game Analysis: The Duke Buzzer-Beater and the Michigan Final
The Elite Eight matchup with top-seeded Duke on March 29 produced the shot of the tournament. Trailing by two in the closing seconds, UConn put the ball in Mullins’ hands, and the freshman buried a 35-foot three-pointer from near the half-court logo with 0.3 seconds remaining for a 73-72 win.
The shot sent UConn to the Final Four for the third time in four years, and it belongs on any list of March Madness’s great endings.
The national championship game against Michigan was a defensive grind that turned on the margins. UConn’s game plan largely worked: the Huskies held Michigan to 2-of-15 from three-point range and won the rebounding battle 46-39. But the Wolverines countered with 36 points in the paint and a remarkable 25-of-28 performance at the free-throw line, while UConn shot a season-low 30.9 percent from the field.
Four straight turnovers early in the second half opened an 11-point deficit, and though Karaban, Mullins, and Ball hit late threes to cut the lead to four with 37 seconds left, Michigan closed it out at the line, 69-63. Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau led all scorers with 19 points.
Why William Timlen Follows the Huskies So Closely
For William Timlen, UConn basketball is a family affair. His son Tyler is a student at the University of Connecticut, which has made the Timlen household a natural home for Husky fandom, and following the Huskies through March has become a fixture of the family calendar. His other son, Jack, attends the University of Miami, so college sports loyalties run deep on both fronts.
Timlen also knows Division 1 athletics from the inside. Before building a career in real estate taxation, he pitched for four years in Providence College’s Division 1 baseball program, an experience that gives him a player’s appreciation for the discipline behind a 34-win season.
Between his work advising real estate owners and developers and his interests beyond the office, including golf at Tamarack Country Club, following UConn basketball remains one of his most reliable pastimes.
Previewing the 2026-27 Huskies
The upcoming season brings significant turnover. Karaban, Reed Jr., Malachi Smith, Dwayne Koroma, and Alec Millender have all exhausted their eligibility, leaving Hurley with major minutes to replace.
The good news for Husky fans arrived in April, when Mullins announced he would forgo the NBA Draft, where he was projected as a first-round pick, and return for his sophomore season. Ball is also expected back.
UConn has since finalized a 15-player roster featuring 10 newcomers alongside five returners. The Huskies open exhibition play on October 13 against Syracuse at Mohegan Sun Arena, face Purdue in a second exhibition on October 27, and will meet Michigan again in the Hall of Fame Series in Boston, which stands as an early rematch of the title game that should tell fans a great deal about this retooled roster.
With Mullins poised for a leap, a motivated coaching staff, and a fresh wave of talent arriving in Storrs, the storylines are already stacking up. For fans like the Timlens, the countdown to opening night is on.
William Timlen, CPA, is a tax partner in the Real Estate Group at EisnerAmper, where he advises real estate owners, developers, and high-net-worth individuals on strategic tax planning. A former Division 1 baseball pitcher at Providence College, he lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his family, including his son Tyler, a student at the University of Connecticut.
