“This team is a work in progress,” Dan Hurley said after yesterday’s game. The UConn Huskies had just broken their three-game skid after a disastrous trip to Maui, unexpectedly losing to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton. But losing to Maryland Eastern Shore, who have relinquished their last two games to Illinois and Arkansas by huge landslides, would likely have caused a never-before-seen Hurley breakdown on the sidelines. Fortunately, the Huskies won, and yet one insider believes they’re lacking something.

In the latest episode of Locked on UConn, host Mark Zanetto discusses the 99-45 game, first praising Liam McNeely. “This kid is really gonna be at this place where he’s going to the hoop a little more. There is one thing I will say, from the start, they turned down a lot of open threes to start the game.” McNeely had gone 0-for-9 in the last game against Dayton but finally found his form last night, scoring a team-high 16 points.

Zanetto guesses at what Hurley might have drilled into his boys after three straight losses in a season where they’re trying to three-peat. “What was hammered into their brains is – ‘Look, guys, we’re not getting the calls we want but who cares? We need to get downhill, use your athleticism, be smart. You don’t always have to shoot the three if it’s open.'” While UConn certainly won by 54 points, Zanetto believes the player’s three-point shooting could use some fine-tuning.

“We haven’t really even dove into some of the guys maybe having some shooting issues because they’re shooting when they’re open vs. shooting and finding hunting spots that they’re efficient at,” Zanetto continues. For a team that’s always looking at analytics, he suggests, it’s the little details that could help give this team the edge. This was the 300th win for UConn at the XL Center, and would have been more than embarrassing had they lost,

To be noted, however, is that their main scorer was not available for the night after he suffered a head injury in the game against Dayton. But Hurley gave a positive update on Alex Karaban.

Dan Hurley reveals Alex Karaban is “pretty good”

When the only returning player from a championship team suffers a head injury, it’s enough to make a young team lose their morale. Especially when it’s happening after said young team has been touted as talented and is more than expected to win again and the coach is going viral for his sideline antics. But Alex Karaban, who was taken to the hospital in Maui, was able to fly back with the team even if he had to watch their victory from the sidelines.

“Alex is pretty good,” Dan Hurley told ESPN. “It was a pretty mild concussion. Everyone treated it as we should, with a lot of caution. Alex was able to travel back with us. All of his tests were really clean, and he is feeling a lot better.”

Even in the veteran’s absence, the underclassmen stepped up to the hoops, with ten of eleven players scoring at least five points, per the New Haven Register. Although this last game’s first half looked scarily like what had gone down in Hawaii, the second half saw the Huskies pick up steam and defend their title of a dominant team. Once Karaban comes back, December will be a do-or-die month for UConn.