Dan Hurley’s squad finally looks like a team coached by one of the best in the business. After their Maui run, no one could say this was the team that won the last two championships and was aiming to do it for the third time. Sure, it was not this exact set of players that won previously but it was the same framework headed by the same brain. The UConn Huskies are finally back on track but the team needs some polishing up still.

In their last game against the Texas Longhorns, the Huskies were shooting machines as they shot 51.9% from the field and 45.0% from three. The Longhorns, who were coming off a streak of seven straight wins, were also shooting 47.0% but UConn ultimately dominated with a 76-65 win, making it their third consecutive win. Rob Dauster highlighted the same on The Field of 68: After Dark, “It got them going offensively.”

But there is still one problem, “One of the things this team has been dealing with is slow starts and I think getting to the foul line, getting some layups. It got them going a little bit offensively and the threes then kind of opened up and I think at one point they hit six of their first nine threes. And I think that’s just kinda what got it going a little bit.”

It was Huskies star Alex Karaban’s first game back from a head injury sustained in Maui. Although UConn had managed to win their last two games against Baylor and Maryland Eastern Shore in his absence, it was still a relief to have Karaban back. Nevertheless, Dauster poked holes in their armor.

“UConn’s issues defensively are when they get put into rotation, when they have to chase a closeout, when there’s action on either side of the floor and then all of a sudden you get into a DHO or into a ball screen and you get defenses moving,” he pointed out.

“That’s where they can have a little bit of an issue, when you have to get into rotations when the ball goes to both sides of the floor, they gotta figure out what they’re doing from help.” 

The biggest giveaway that Hurley needs to work on this young team’s defense? “There were no rotations on Sunday. The ball screen stuff Texas was running was not that complicated.”

Nevertheless, the head coach was still relieved to have his only so-called veteran back, if only to take some pressure off guys like Liam McNeely and Solo Ball.

Dan Hurley on Alex Karaban: “He played like a star”

First things first – Alex Karaban scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks against Texas. So far this season, the redshirt junior is averaging a career-high stat line, three-pointers included. So safe to say, Dan Hurley desperately needs him to play every game without getting injured.

After victory over the Longhorns, the head hog said, “All-American level performance and that’s what he’s going to have to do for this team this year. He played like a star, and he delivered in every way. He had some fresh legs today, maybe we’ve been practicing too hard. This is something now, everyone’s gonna want the days off.”

That said, it’s only December and UConn has gone through the highs and lows reserved for a full season. Now that they’ve really seen the lowest they can go, the Huskies are back in winning mode. And hopefully, nothing short of a miracle is going to stop them from beating down other teams and truly three-peat.