UConn Reclaiming the Big East Reins Highlights Major Tactical Test for Dan Hurley

UConn finally feels like UConn again. Despite the close loss to Villanova on Wednesday, the Huskies bounced back with their fifth SEC win of the season over Georgetown and as usual, the roster shone bright. Alex Karaban was finally back to his usual form after more than a couple of games where he seemed to be fumbling. And what surprised some was that the junior star was not the only one with a good performance.

On The Field of 68: After Dark, host Rob Dauster talks about Karaban’s comeback, who had 19 points on the night, with six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. Missing two back-to-back free throws for the first time in his college career, especially at a point that could have led to the Huskies winning, came as a surprise to most. But he bounced back in style. However, Dauster points out, “To me, the thing that I circled about this game guys, is you got Jaden Ross going off the bench a little bit.”

And it was not just Ross, “I thought Aidan Mahaney played the best defensive game that he’s played for UConn yet and he also had six points and a couple assists and played pretty well offensively. You got Ahmad Nowell playing some minutes.” With Liam McNeeley injured, the rest of the team is slowly showing up and that too consistently and it’s only going to be more of an advantage once the freshman comes back.

“I just think you need some help in that back court,” Dauster continues. “Like the biggest thing that they’re gonna need is to be able to have one or two of those bench guys be able to be someone that can give you 15 minutes, no question, every single night, where you’re going to be quality minutes once Liam McNeeley gets back.”

“That’s gonna be the key to them being able to hit their ceiling this season. And we’ve seen Jaylin Stewart on Wednseday, he was great. Jayden Ross played his best game of the Big East season today…So, big win. Needed that bounce back.”

While McNeeley’s high-ankle sprain was not serious, he’s still expected to miss some weeks of play. It’s not reported as season-ending but it will take time for him to come back. Meanwhile, Dan Hurley is helping Mahaney and the rest of the bench slowly give more minutes on the court, especially when it comes to ignoring all the social media noise around the UConn Huskies.

Mahaney had given one of his best performances of the season against Providence and he and Hassan Diarra had answered the press about how blocking out all the noise and just focusing on basketball helps. Well, their effort is certainly showing and in a way, McNeeley being absent has worked to bring them out more.

Meanwhile, the team’s veteran is giving it his all to lead his teammates as best as he can, especially after his recent hiccups.

Dan Hurley calls Alex Karaban one of the “greatest” in UConn history

The only player to be on UConn’s previous two championship teams and starting both games, Alex Karaban brings a certain experience to the young Huskies team. It was reported that after Dan Hurley and his team landed in Washington D.C. at 2 AM in the morning, Karaban went straight to the gym to practice his shooting.

“What Coach said, I did,” Karaban said, per CT Insider. “I listened to him completely.” While Hurley might not have exactly encouraged him to practice shots in the middle of the night, it was just his work ethic and that hunger to win the third title in as many years in a row.

“This is the winningest player in college basketball, one of the greatest players in UConn history,” Hurley said after the Georgetown game. “We knew we’d get this type of response from him today, because this guy is one of the best players in college basketball.”

Foregoing the NBA draft unlike some of his other teammates, Alex Karaban chose to come back to college. Even if UConn’s season has not been as smooth as expected, the team is ready to win their third championship no matter what.