Dan Hurley began his postgame press conference last Tuesday by placing a printout of the box score on the table in front of him and looking down at it.
For the next 10 minutes, the UConn men’s basketball coach acted like he couldn’t find a single positive thing to say about what he considered a “comically bad” performance.
Bounce off? “So far below our standard,” Hurley groaned.
Ball security? “It’s been a long time since we’ve been this bad,” Hurley howled.
Defense? “How many times have we been driven!” Hurley lamented.
“No one played well tonight,” Hurley insisted. “You can have bad shooting nights, but you can’t play like that. This is not acceptable.”
If viewers didn’t know any better, they would surely assume that UConn lost to East Texas A&M. In fact, the Huskies won 35. In the first nine minutes of the match, they opened a double-digit lead, increased it to 22 by halftime and took it to an 81:46 lead.
Hurley’s scathing assessment of his team’s performance wasn’t just the result of UConn’s season-high 19 turnovers against East Texas A&M’s switch-hitting defense or the 17 offensive rebounds the Huskies gave up. The notoriously hard-to-please coach clearly wanted to refocus the undefeated Huskies just before their schedule got a lot tougher.
The next three weeks will serve as the ultimate litmus test of whether two-time defending national champion UConn is capable of a historic triple-peat, something no college basketball program has accomplished since UCLA’s John Wooden dynasty. The second-ranked Huskies (4-0) will likely play six games during that stretch against teams that receive votes in the current AP Top 25.
It begins Monday when UConn opens the Maui Invitational against an undefeated Memphis team that has already knocked off the likes of Missouri and UNLV. Next up is either undefeated Colorado or a Michigan State team that recently pushed No. 1 Kansas deep into the second half. On the other side of Maui’s bracket are Auburn, North Carolina and Iowa State, all top-10 teams in the AP poll and many computer metrics.
The gauntlet resumes after a one-game suspension against Maryland Eastern Shore. On Dec. 4, No. 13 Baylor comes to Storrs. Four days later, UConn visits Texas. Then on Dec. 14, in their final game before Big East play, the Huskies travel to New York to take on No. 3 Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden.
This stretch will reveal where UConn stands in the standings at the start of the season. Has Hurley assembled another title contender despite retaining just one starter from last season’s 37-win? Or did the loss of NBA lottery picks Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle and fellow draft picks Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer leave too many holes for Hurley to fill?
Last season vs. this season
The way Sacred Heart coach Anthony Latina sees it, comparing this year’s UConn team to the last isn’t “probably fair.” That team completed the best two-year run in modern men’s college basketball history by sweeping the Big East regular-season and conference tournament titles with surprising ease and upsetting six straight NCAA Tournament opponents by at least 14 points apiece.
“It was probably one of the best teams in the last 20 years and maybe in the history of college basketball,” Latina told reporters after UConn beat his team 92-56 earlier this month.
This year’s Huskies aren’t as sublimely talented, according to Latino, but they’re still an “elite team” and “will be there.”
“Will they win every NCAA Tournament by double digits?” said the Latina. “I think it’s asking too much, but this is a legitimate top-five team, a legitimate Final Four contender, no question.
Le Moyne assistant coach Ben Swank also came away impressed after UConn demolished the Dolphins 90-49 earlier this month. When his teams face an important schedule, Swank is used to marveling at the size, strength and athleticism of opposing players. UConn had it all, Swank said, and the Huskies to a man were also highly skilled.
“That opened my eyes,” Swank told Yahoo Sports. That way you could say, OK, this is the top program in the country. This is not just any high school.”
The return of Hurley and versatile forward Alex Karaban are the two biggest reasons why UConn can dare to dream of a triple.
Hurley passed on the chance to become the next men’s basketball coach at Kentucky, handing the job to the Los Angeles Lakers after a whirlwind courtship. Karaban could have gone off the board as early as the end of the first round and almost certainly would have been the fifth player selected by UConn had he remained in June’s NBA draft.
The Karaban has gone from a complementary piece to a focal point on offense without sacrificing any of its effectiveness. The 6-foot-8 junior is averaging a team-high 16.3 points per game by knocking down jumpers, shooting up close and staying active on the offensive glass. If anything, UConn needs Karaban to get more aggressive hunting shots because 8.3 field goal attempts per game isn’t enough.
On defense, Karaban is UConn’s vocal leader and most reliable on-ball defender and helper. He’s even blocked 13 shots already this season, a result of his positional size, anticipation, motor skills and ability to shift his feet to stay in front of his man.
“He’s a very high IQ player and at a very high level,” said Swank, who put together his program’s defensive game plan against UConn. “He’s going to look for ways to shoot the ball. You’re trying to guard some screens one way or another, and he’s really good at reading it and putting himself in great position.”
For this UConn team to accomplish what the previous two did, Hurley needs his returning players to shoulder more responsibility and some of his prized recruits to make an immediate impact. Sophomore guard Solomon Ball has already confirmed preseason projections that he will produce a breakout season, freshman Liam McNeeley has lived up to his reputation as a skilled 6-foot shooter and sophomore Jayden Ross has shown tremendous potential.
However, questions remain at the top five and at quarterback. Can the combination of transfer Tarris Reed Jr. and career player Samson Johnson come close to duplicating the interior scoring and rim protection that Clingan provided last season? And can fifth-year transfer Hassan Diarra or Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney develop into a Newton-style quarterback capable of initiating the offense and making smart decisions with the ball in his hands?
The lack of a point guard who can consistently get in the paint and make plays for others is generally considered UConn’s most glaring weakness, but Swank argued that Diarra and Mahaney are selling themselves short. Diarra, Swank said, is “incredibly tough and composed” and “did a little bit of everything well” against LeMoyne. Mahaney has been slow coming out of the blocks, Swank admitted, but assistant LeMoyne suspects he needs more time to adjust to his new teammates.
“What Mahaney has been missing is a scoring threat going to the rim,” Swank said. “I know he missed one or two easier games against us. I think that will come when he gets a feel for his team, but it’s something he could definitely do better.”
History of the chase
Until last year, only two men’s college basketball programs had won national titles since Wooden’s heyday at UCLA, which began in the early 1970s: Florida in 2006 and 2007 and Duke in 1991 and 1992. All five Florida starters bypassed the NBA Draft to come back to claim a second championship. Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill were among four Duke starters to do the same.
What UConn accomplished last season was an even bolder feat. Hurley didn’t have the luxury of bringing his team back intact in pursuit of a repeat. Five of the top eight players on his first title team advanced after the Huskies made the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Now, Hurley is once again trying to recharge on the run – and once again, his worst enemies are bad habits and complacency. Even after a 35-point home win in the fourth game of the season, he’s still in knots looking for ways to motivate his team.
“When we got down by 37 with 12 minutes left, it turned into a debacle,” Hurley lamented.
Message delivered. Loud and clear.