UConn HC Identifies Key Challenges of Facing Creighton
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The UConn Huskies are 20–1 this season and are coming off 16 straight wins. In their last match, the Huskies faced the Providence Friars and won 87–81. Next up, the Huskies head into one of the league’s trickiest environments.
The Huskies will face the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha. Since meeting regularly in Big East play, Creighton leads the series 9–3 and is 4–1 in Omaha. In fact, it was only last season that the Huskies lost 71–62 to Creighton in the Big East semifinal.
Ahead of the matchup, Dan Hurley spoke to the press and had something interesting to say about the challenges the Bluejays pose.
“They’re one of the top programs in college basketball,” Hurley said. "They’ve got one of the best coaches. They’ve had some of the best teams. They’ve been consistently competing for the conference championship, getting to the semis, getting to the finals of the tournament, competing for the regular season, Sweet 16s, and Elite Eights. They’ve got great players that are now playing in the NBA. You know, they’ve been a top program, and that’s a credit to their basketball."
Hurley is not wrong. Greg McDermott, who is in his 16th season, has turned Creighton into a Big East regular. He has led the Bluejays to nine straight top-four conference finishes, three Sweet 16s, and an Elite Eight in the last five years.
MCDermott has even set names like Ryan Kalkbrenner, Baylor Scheierman, Marcus Zegarowski, Khyri Thomas, and more to the NBA. This season, the Bluejays are 12–9 overall and 6–4 in conference play. They’ve gone 9–2 in Omaha and 4–1 against league opponents there.
Josh Dix leads the offense at 12.3 points per game. Meanwhile, Austin Swartz adds 11.9 while shooting 39.4% from three, and Jasen Green brings 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds. However, pedigree is not the only challenge for Hurley and the Huskies.
Dan Hurley Breaks Down Problems With Facing Creighton On the Road
Playing Omaha is not easy. The fandom is loud and, no doubt, intentional. While Hurley praised Creighton’s administration and how they cultivate an atmosphere that feeds off passion without losing control, calling it “very professional”, there is no denying that it can get unpredictable.
As Hurley puts it, “Obviously, it’s important for the home crowd, especially for us too this year, because there’s been a lot of conversation about our home environment. You want a raucous crowd. You want that intensity, the electricity that you really only get in college basketball, the passion, the intensity, the dislike for the opponent. I think all that stuff is healthy. You just don’t want it to cross the line. For me, I’m going to do my part and not instigate extra as I have in the past. I don’t want to be the boy who cried wolf. From that standpoint, yeah, I expect a warmer reception, to be honest with you. I think with the book, and the way I handled the Big East tournament loss, by admitting that I deserved to get dunked on at the end of that semifinal game, maybe showed the Creighton fans that, hey, maybe this guy’s not so bad. I guess we’ll see tomorrow."
After last year’s chaotic semifinal, “we’ll see” is not a bad mindset. Last season, with Creighton up 69–62, Hurley had already made it clear to the Huskies to end without fouling. However, Jamiyah Neal had other ideas. Neal sprinted down the left side and threw down a dunk with 1.5 seconds left, then hung on the rim and waved to fire up the Omaha crowd.
That led to a brief confrontation with Hassan Diarra, leading to double technical fouls for both players, while UConn’s Jayden Ross was ejected for stepping off the bench. And while the Bluejays aren’t the same roster as last year, it is still going to be one for the books.
-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.