HARTFORD, Conn. — It took some time to break in the rims at the XL Center on Saturday night, but the UConn men’s basketball team raced away from New Hampshire in the second half for a 92-53 win.

Alex Karaban had a steady 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and four blocks to lead the way as five Huskies finished in double-figure scoring.

Solo Ball finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and freshman Liam McNeeley posted his second double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, despite shooting 2-for-6 from the field. Jayden Ross, making his season debut, added 14 points (6-of-9 shooting) in 22 minutes off the bench.

UConn (2-0) looked like a young, new team in the first half. It is.

The Huskies got into foul trouble early with Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr., both centers, picking up two apiece, and had to play with a small lineup on the floor for more than six minutes in the first half.

Missing open shots, UConn started the game shooting 4 for 16 from the field and was no good on its first nine 3-point attempts until Karaban, not young or new, laced one wide open from the wing. That 3, almost 11 minutes into the game, put UConn ahead 15-13 as both teams experienced significant scoring droughts.

Aidan Mahaney, looking for his first basket as a Husky, missed his first three shots but finally got a 3-pointer to fall with 6:12 to go in the opening half. Reed (11 points, eight rebounds) seemed to be the go-to guy when the offense lulled and used his size down low to get seven points in the first half, while Karaban got to the free-throw line six times to continue expanding the lead. UConn went into halftime up 35-24.

Both teams came out in the second half with more success shooting the ball. Karaban made his first two 3-pointers after the break and Hassan Diarra, scoreless in seven minutes off the bench in the first half, started a 14-2 run with a fast-break layup and a feed to Reed for a monster dunk that woke up the crowd.

Ross, who missed Wednesday’s opener with an ankle injury, made a 3-pointer and converted a thrilling reverse layup with 12 minutes to go.

Diarra contributed to another highlight as he lobbed a pass to sophomore Jaylin Stewart, who soared for a slam. Stewart dunked again on the next possession following Johnson’s third block of the night and got the crowd back on its feet as the Huskies’ lead pushed to 23.

The lead grew to 30 points before coach Dan Hurley emptied his bench. Freshmen Isaiah Abraham and Ahmad Nowell, as well as little-used sophomore Youssouf Singare, added buckets in the final minutes.

Mahaney finished the night with nine points on 3-for-9 shooting (2 for 5 from deep).

UConn shot 63.6% from the field and 7 for 15 from beyond the arc in the second half. The Huskies had a 42-26 advantage on the glass and assisted on a relatively low 20 of their made baskets.

UConn will return to Hartford for its next game against Le Moyne on Wednesday, set to tipoff at 7 p.m.

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