Alex Karaban matched his season-high with 21 points as the UConn men’s basketball team overcame a slow start without leading scorer Solo Ball to beat DePaul, 72-54, in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena Sunday night.

The No. 5 Huskies improved to 12-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Big East as they head into a short holiday break.

It was UConn’s 21st-consecutive victory in the all-time series against DePaul (8-5, 0-2 Big East).

Tarris Reed Jr. formed a strong frontcourt tandem with Karaban as he recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, along with four assists and three blocked shots. And point guard Silas Demary Jr. finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. The Huskies finished the game with a 40-28 advantage on the glass.

Ball missed the game with a minor injury to his left wrist, which occurred as he braced himself on a hard fall during Tuesday’s career-high 26-point performance in a win over Butler.

The start was as sloppy as it gets. There were a combined 15 turnovers over the first 10 minutes and UConn fell behind, 15-7, after missing 13 of its first 16 shots from the field.

But Reed, battling inside, got the Huskies’ offense going with a strong finish through contact under the basket. Active on the offensive glass, Demary tipped a pass to Jaylin Stewart (six points, three rebounds) for a dunk and capitalized on an open look from 3-point range before giving the Huskies a lead from the free throw line to complete a 9-0 scoring run.

Karaban steadied UConn’s offense with 10 points in the first half on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including a 3-pointer in the final two minutes to create some separation on the scoreboard. But DePaul, scoring 16 points off nine UConn turnovers, cut its halftime deficit to just three with a tough last-second floater from Layden Blocker (11 points, three assists).

The Huskies’ captain continued his momentum into the second half, making two more shots, including a third 3-pointer, before his first miss, which was blocked into the hands of Stewart for a smooth reverse layup.

UConn pulled away on the back of its defense, building a 17-point lead with a second-chance layup from Reed around the eight-minute mark.

DePaul shot just 31% from the field in the second half and finished the game just 3 for 13 from beyond the arc.

Still looking for the “killer instinct” coach Dan Hurley has been begging for, the Huskies’ lead was trimmed to 10 until Reed hit a mid-range shot off the glass and Braylon Mullins (eight points) sealed the victory with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, making it an 18-point game with a minute and a half to play.

UConn will return to action on New Year’s Eve in Cincinnati for a matchup with Xavier and coach Richard Pitino.

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