At a loose ball, bouncing all over the place, almost begging for someone to finally grab it and win this game?
Of course it was. And of course, it was No. 2 UConn – senior guard Solo Ball in particular – that ultimately broke out of the chaos, ball in hand, with the one thing the Huskies have proven they really need this season: a chance to win late.
After collecting that crucial defensive rebound with just a minute left in overtime on Saturday, Ball calmly gave it to Silas Demary, who delivered the most ordinary of daggers: a layup right up the middle, via (by Big East standards) almost no contact. Demary’s bucket list put UConn up 4 against Villanova with 47 seconds left — just enough, in a game that featured nine lead changes and 11 ties, to seal the Huskies’ eventual 75-67 overtime victory at PeoplesBank Arena.
“We’ve found a way to win so many times, whether it’s in league play or non-conference play,” senior forward Alex Karaban said. “It’s another one.”
He’s not wrong. Because at this point in the season the The streak of UConn’s 19-1 start and 9-0 record in the Big East — not to mention the program’s longest winning streak in a single season, 15 games, since 1994-95 — is just that: While Dan Hurley’s team may still be a work in progress, a team tinkering with the formula and how all the pieces fit together… it’s one that, no matter what, just wins anyway.
Sounds great, right? Except for someone like Hurley — who has climbed the college basketball mountaintop twice and knows as well as anyone in the sport what it takes to get there — it’s also a double-edged sword.
That’s not to say the ultra-competitive Hurley would trade away one of his team’s recent wins. “I’m not going to get the joy out of the fact that I’m in a great place,” he said Saturday.
But on the other hand, Hurley understands that the regular season is more than halfway over and his team still has rough edges that need some sanding.
“We’re just not playing at that (consistent championship) level yet,” Hurley added. “We should deal with this within the next few weeks or month.”
Hurley has maintained this message since the calendar turned, especially after recent wins against Providence, Seton Hall and Georgetown. But he’s not the only one who feels this way. Saturday, as Hurley walked back to the UConn locker room after the game, he saw a familiar face in the tunnel near the field, prompting him to stop: legendary former UConn coach Jim Calhoun, a fellow two-time national championship winner who has been a frequent source of guidance for Hurley during his eight seasons as coach at Storrs.
Hurley stopped to hug Calhoun, burying the top of his head in his predecessor’s chest before darting back into the bowels of the arena.
What did Calhoun say?
“Coach rattled off about four or five things we’re bad at,” Hurley joked. “I then quickly went to the locker room and put in the notes section of my phone all the things he said about the things we need to get better at.”
The list likely included the same things Hurley has complained about in recent weeks, which flared up at times against the Wildcats on Saturday. And that starts with a rebound, which Hurley reiterated as a “concern” after UConn’s last win. Think about it: Both of Hurley’s national title teams ranked in the top-15 in the country in offensive and defensive rebounds, according to KenPom. This year’s group?
Just 60th in offensive rebound rate and 131st on the defensive glass.
And while, yes, the Huskies (barely) outscored the Wildcats 42-39, that box score tells a bit of a lie. The final count only tips in UConn’s favor due to an 8-3 margin in overtime. Against a team that only has two players over 6-foot-1 in the top nine minutes, that’s simply not good enough in Hurley’s eyes.
While Hurley’s job is to focus on tightening the key, his team is undoubtedly still improving. Just turn on Saturday’s band.
After a few inconsistent weeks, Ball finally broke out completely, scoring a game-high 24 points and sometimes single-handedly keeping the Huskies afloat offensively. “For him,” Hurley said, “this was a really good step forward.” Or how about UConn with just nine turnovers, helping the Huskies win consecutive games by single digits, after a disastrous 17 against Seton Hall? Or how the Huskies, after falling behind by 7 after Hurley’s technical foul in the second half, didn’t allow the deficit to increase but immediately erased it within minutes? Or how Karaban — whose missed free throws against Villanova cost UConn the game last season — went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe, including 3-for-3 in the second half?
That’s all progress. Grow. The kinds of things UConn needs to figure out exactly and what a similar Huskies team had to do a few years ago during the 2022-2023 season.
The difference? That team lost five of eight games in January, and this one keeps winning even as it builds parts of the plane in the air.
“We have to get better every day, but I definitely see the vision,” Karaban said. “I definitely see the potential in how good this team can be.”
Hurley and Karaban – two of the few remaining from that 2023 title team – have continually compared this group to the one that only found its footing in March. And from a selection point of view, where it is still unclear how all the pieces of the puzzle of this season fit together, that makes sense. Starting center Tarris Reed, who fouled out late in the second half, is still capable of more interior dominance despite his gaudy counting stats. Ball had been on a bit of a break until Saturday. And Saturday even introduced another question into the mix, with freshman sharpshooter Braylon Mullins leaving midway through the second half after taking an elbow to the face. Hurley later said he is in the concussion protocol.
Lots of balls in the air. Which makes it another great testament to Hurley, his staff and his players that they’ve caught them all 19 out of 20 times so far.
But Hurley and his Huskies aren’t chasing a 19-1 record, as satisfying as that is.
“The season has gone pretty well for us,” Hurley said, “but it’s my responsibility as a coach to worry about the things that are going to keep us from winning the Big East regular season, winning the Big East tournament and getting to the Final Four. Trying to win a national championship.”
Just winning is great. It’s worked so far, and it did so again Saturday against one of the three Big East teams seriously in NCAA Tournament contention. When it has mattered most, UConn has played on the margins time and time again.
“We’ve just got to be able to come out and get these wins,” Ball said, “the way we’re supposed to.”
But Hurley knows that to win six games in March, that strategy will be increasingly tested by better and better teams.
If you’ve done this many times, this will undoubtedly serve UConn in the postseason, no matter how much improvement the Huskies make before that. But that doesn’t mean Hurley and his team can’t make some serious adjustments over the next eight weeks to give themselves more room for error.
“We are winning, and we continue to find ways to win,” Karaban said. “But I truly believe this team can become a championship team. And that’s what we continue to strive for every day.”
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