Dan Hurley's UConn Starved For Dribble Penetration: 'Not Great At Driving It'
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Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies fell to 6-3 in Big East play (14-6 overall) on Saturday night with a loss at Xavier.
The defeat was not without its bright spots for Hurley and the Huskies.
Solo Ball finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Ball is now averaging 14.5 points per game this season on a very impressive 43.6 percent from three. He is UConn’s total points leader on the season thus far with 290 (Alex Karaban is No. 2 behind Ball with 277).
Aidan Mahaney turned heads with 14 big points (2-for-3 from three), and Samson Johnson and Hassan Diarra contributed 12 apiece for UConn.
It wasn’t a terrible day offensively for UConn, but as Hurley commented on during the postgame presser, the Huskies once again struggled mightily to generate dribble penetration, a common theme this season.
“We just don't have a lot of guys that can … create off the dribble,” Hurley admitted.
“We're not great at driving it.”
“When (Liam) McNeeley gets back, he's got size, and he's got strength, and he's got the ability to get fouled, to get the free throw line.”
The Huskies are 3-3 since McNeeley injured his ankle during a January 1 battle with DePaul.
Despite being a six-foot-seven wing (or “big guard”, as Gonzaga’s Mark Few described McNeeley), McNeeley is UConn’s best creator off the dribble, but even McNeeley more often than not needs a high ball screen to generate a drive into the paint.
The Huskies lack a guy who can create something out of nothing off the dribble. We're a far cry from the days of guys like Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier, and Ryan Boatright breaking guys down with a dynamic mixture of quickness and handles.
More recently, Hurley’s had players like Tristen Newton and Stephon Castle who were skilled and athletic enough to penetrate without the need for a ball screen.
The 2024-25 Huskies don’t have a guard like that, with all due respect to floor general Hassan Diarra.
Ball has begun to figure out how to use his athleticism and instincts to drive effectively, so that’s a welcome sign for Hurley’s club.
But on the whole, dribble penetration has been an Achilles heel for UConn this year -- both in defending it and creating it.
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Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org