UConn’s Empire Classic win shows what Huskies can be when finished product becomes a reality

Dan Hurley and UConn celebrate Empire Classic championship that served as glimpse of what Huskies can be when at full complement. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

NEW YORK — If Sunday’s meeting with Indiana was UConn’s first test against a marquee opponent, its encore 30 hours later was a greater sign of what the Huskies can ultimately be before the sun sets on the program’s national championship defense.

Monday’s margin of victory over Texas was only half of what it was the day before, when UConn punished the Hoosiers by 20 points, but in taking down the 19th-ranked Longhorns, Dan Hurley and his team learned more about the long-term potential within the locker room. The reason why? The massive performance by the Husky bench, spearheaded by 15 points and eight rebounds from Samson Johnson, plus a steady eight points and six boards from Hassan Diarra as Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton endured foul trouble and inefficiency, respectively.

“The question about this team going into the year was the bench,” Hurley admitted after UConn’s 81-71 triumph at Madison Square Garden. “Obviously if we get those types of performances from Hassan and Samson, and as we get Steph (Castle) back and Solo (Ball) continues to develop, we’re going to have that depth. And I think the great thing about this team is when Cam (Spencer) and Tristen have a bad shooting night, and we just have a lot of weapons, a lot of people that can beat you.”

“It was huge for us,” Alex Karaban said of the supporting cast’s effort. “Coach always talks about next man mentality and with Donovan having foul trouble, Steph being out, other guys had to step up. (Johnson and Diarra) were the two most valuable players of this game. Without them, we don’t win, and so Sam and Has really stepped up big-time for us, and they led us to this win.”

Johnson unleashed his athleticism and effortless floor game over 27 minutes of what could easily be considered his magnum opus in a Husky uniform. While not the imposing physical specimen Clingan is, Hurley praised his understudy as the perfect complement to the 7-foot-2 sophomore, and the impact he affords UConn moving forward has not gone unnoticed by those closest to the fire.

“A whole different beast,” said Karaban of what UConn could present when it is fully engaged on all cylinders. “Donovan and Samson at that center position present two different problems for teams, and the way Samson played today was unbelievable. Us in practices, we knew what he was capable of, so it’s not really a surprise for us, but just for everyone else to see, I think he’s such a special talent and we’re really gonna need him this year.”

Hurley mentioned Sunday that he expressed concern for how his young group would perform under the bright lights for the first time this season, a worry that became somewhat larger on the heels of Stephon Castle’s knee injury suffered a week ago. Now that the first acid test is firmly in the rearview mirror, Karaban was quick to herald the uptick that came with taking down a pair of high-major foes as the Huskies brace for challenges from top-ranked Kansas and North Carolina in the coming weeks.

“Huge momentum for us,” he stated. “We had the same thing happen for us last year (in the PK85 tournament) and we just had to keep momentum heading into the other non-conference games. This right here, with the new team experiencing and feeling a championship is something special, and just a little taste of what we want in the future with the Big East and national championship. It’s something great to build on.”

“We’ve got great potential to be much better than we are right now,” Hurley echoed. “We’ve got a lot of new pieces, Steph’s a huge piece. When he’s in the mix, he brings a dimension that we don’t have right now, that 6’6, super-athletic guard that can get anywhere he wants on the court and is a problem defensively. But even players like Alex and Donovan, you’re seeing — Jordan Hawkins the beginning of his sophomore year was a much different player than he was at the end of his sophomore year — so this team will continue to get better. The freshmen will get better, the sophomores, the veteran backcourt will get more comfortable.”

Now 5-0 to begin the season, UConn has won 22 straight non-conference games by double digits, one shy of the record held by North Carolina when it won the national championship in 2008-09 and extended the string into the following season. Hurley was admittedly unaware of the statistic, but defended it with a simple description of his team’s constant effort to merely come in and outplay its competition no matter the level.

“We’re unique with the way that we play,” he assessed. “I just think the program’s got so much confidence. You know, you win the national championship, you step onto the court with just a lot of belief that you’re supposed to win, and we’re pretty relentless. The coaches are relentless, the players are relentless. We’re gonna try to beat you by as many as we can beat you by.”