How UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. terrorized Furman to avoid March Madness upset

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Connecticut forward Tarris Reed Jr. did something no other Division I men's basketball player has done in a March Madness game in nearly 60 years. The 6-foot-11 forward became the first player since Houston's Elvin Hayes in 1968 to finish with at least 30 points and 25 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game , as he finished with a career-high, video-game-like 31 points and 27 rebounds.

REQUIRED READING: Braden Smith sets NCAA all-time assists record, breaks Bobby Hurley's mark "That's as good as you are ever going to see it," UConn coach Dan Hurley said of Reed's performance after his team's 82-71 win over Furman to a group of reporters outside the Huskies locker room. The 2-seeded Huskies needed every single point and every single rebound from Reed to avoid a potential first-round upset to the 15-seeded Paladins, as UConn nearly lost its 11-point second-half lead late in the second half. A MONSTER game for Tarris Reed Jr...

30 points, 27 rebounds and counting 🤯🤯 @UConnMBB pic. twitter. com/yXuy4A5IpY — CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 21, 2026 The night the Huskies got from Reed saved Hurley's program from being added to the wrong end of March Madness history at Wells Fargo Center.

Entering the night, 15-seeds pulled off an upset in two of the last three times that the Men's NCAA Tournament came to Philadelphia. The first came in 2013 when 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast University upset 2-seed Georgetown in the first round, while the other came in 2022 from that year's Cinderella story in 15-seed St. Peter's, Which knocked off 3-seed Purdue in the Sweet 16.