Dan Hurley Gets Blunt About UConn's Issues
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This season, the Huskies are riding the third-longest single-season winning streak in program history. They have a 16-game win streak and a 10-0 record in conference play, the Huskies’ best conference record since Jim Calhoun’s 1998-99 title team.
The team looks primed for March, but before the Huskies head to their next game in Omaha, Dan Hurley pointed out something the team is lacking.
“The team doesn’t have the killer instinct. When we get the Providence game, for example, up 10 in the first half, teams with that killer instinct stretch that lead to 18 going into halftime. They create separation, demoralize the opponent, and break their will,” said Hurley.
In their last match, the Huskies went up against Providence and won 87–81. UConn had a double-digit lead early, but let it slip away. The Friars tied the game early in the second half, and while UConn responded with a 12–5 run, Providence still managed to come close. And for Hurley, the frustrating part is this wasn’t some one-off.
As Hurley himself reminded, “This team just hasn’t shown that ability to take it to the next level. Even going back to earlier season games, when you get up 20 on BYU at home, and you don’t keep them there, you let them back. We have the will to win. I don’t think this team is soft. If this team were soft, we wouldn’t win close games.”
The BYU game still lingers for a reason. UConn had a 59–39 lead early in the second half, shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep. However, the Huskies let BYU make a late surge, which eventually was saved by Silas Demary Jr.’s clutch shots.
Hurley also went on to add, “This team has been very tough-minded. What we haven’t proven is a killer instinct, a nastiness, a violence about us on the backboard. Our ball security, at times, has been shaky, and we don’t have that killer instinct, but we do have the will to win, because we’ve won close games against some really good teams."
Huskies Head to Omaha to Face Creighton
The good thing is, the Huskies have an opportunity soon to show their “killer instincts.” Next up, UConn heads to the CHI Health Center to face Creighton. The Bluejays are 9–2 at home and 4–1 in Big East games this season.
Additionally, the Bluejays hold a 9–3 edge in the all-time series and are 4–1 against UConn in Omaha. Josh Dix leads the Bluejays with 12.3 points per game, Austin Swartz adds 11.9 while shooting nearly 40 percent from three, and Jasen Green brings both double-figure scoring and a team-high 5.1 rebounds.
To make things more interesting, the Huskies lost their last game against Creighton. Across three meetings last season, UConn lost two games to Creighton, falling 68–63 at home and 71–62 on a neutral floor in New York. The lone breakthrough, however, came in Omaha, where the Huskies won 70–66 on the road.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.