STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men’s basketball team survived a major scare late and held on for a 79-75 win over Georgetown on a milestone Saturday night at Gampel Pavilion.

The Huskies led by seven with 33 seconds left when KJ Lewis rose up for a 3-pointer and Tarris Reed Jr. made contact with his arm, fouling out of the game as the four-point play cut the Hoyas’ deficit to three at the 24-second mark. Then Lewis snatched the inbound pass to get possession and UConn fouled up three. Kayvaun Mulready made one of two from the stripe and Alex Karaban pushed the lead back out to four, sealing the game from the opposite stripe with 10 seconds to play.

It was fitting that the captain made the decisive shots to become the winningest player in program history, surpassing Samson Johnson with 116 victories over his career. A four-year starter, Karaban also broke Jake Voskhul’s record with his 136th start on Saturday.

The Huskies improved to 24-2 and 14-1 in the Big East with their 12th consecutive win over Georgetown.

Silas Demary Jr.’s chance at a second triple-double of the season came up just short as chaos ensued in the final minute and he finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. It was also a milestone night for Solo Ball, who reached the 1,000-point mark for his career with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists.

UConn had five players finish in double figures as Karaban got to 18 points with three rebounds and two steals. Freshmen Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe added 10 points a piece.

After chucking up their second-worst 3-point performance (5-for-26) of the season when they met the Hoyas in Washington, the Huskies’ first six shot attempts came from beyond the arc on Saturday.

This time they fell through the net (7 for 17 in the first half) as Mullins started the game from the corner and Ball followed suit, then Karaban and Mullins again before Reibe finished the team’s first two-point try five minutes into the game and made it a 14-7 UConn lead.

The Hoyas answered with five 3-pointers of their own in the first half but did most of their damage inside and tied the game at 25 from the free throw line. But Ball ended a 6-0 run with his second 3-pointer of the game, Demary made a floater inside and Ball hit again. After going 0 for 5 from beyond the arc in Washington, Ball scored 10 points during a 12-3 run as UConn opened up a nine-point lead in the final four minutes of the half.

UConn had a 41-33 lead at halftime when Hasheem Thabeet, who Jim Calhoun called one of the two greatest shot-blockers he’s ever coached – along with Emeka Okafor – saw his No. 34 hung in the Huskies of Honor.

Reibe, subbing in after Reed (four points, one rebound) picked up his third foul less than 20 seconds into the second half, made a pair of buckets inside as the Huskies came out of the break with an 8-2 run and built their lead to 14 before falling into a three-minute scoring drought.

Mulready, a career 27.9% 3-point shooter, made a pair of 3s to make it a six point game, but Ross finished inside and found Karaban with a no-look pass to the corner for 3. Ball followed in transition with his fifth made triple of the game, which got him to 1,001 points for his career and gave the Huskies a 12-point cushion.

Mulready scored 11-straight for the Hoyas, but Karaban, after taking only one shot in the first half, side-stepped an airborne defender and nailed his third 3-pointer in four attempts with nine minutes left.

But Georgetown made six of its first 10 shots from beyond the arc to start the second half and wouldn’t go away. Malik Mack saw a high bounce off the rim that went through the basket to make it a four-point game approaching the three-minute mark. It was matched by Karaban, but Lewis answered again at the other end.

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