UConn keeps pressure up, rolls in NCAA Tournament opener

UConn’s win over Stetson Friday was expected, but Alex Karaban cited need to sustain momentum moving forward. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

NEW YORK — Foot on the gas.

That mantra has been Dan Hurley's approach, not just through what has been a dominant 32-3 season at the helm of the Connecticut Huskies to this point, but through the majority of his 51 years of life as well.

With his childhood and early adulthood spent in the shadows as the second scion of one of New Jersey basketball’s royal families, Hurley has known no other way than to be merciless in his life’s work. The passion and hustle is just channeled differently in his current occupation overseeing UConn.

Friday’s example of the Hurley way may have been among its better practices, as the defending national champions cruised to a 91-52 victory over 16th-seed Stetson in the Huskies’ NCAA Tournament opener.

“I obviously loved the start,” the coach proclaimed as UConn scored the first eight points of the afternoon and did not look back after five Huskies tallied 12 or more points. “It’s exactly how you want to start a game like this where you’re in March Madness and you know the history of these No. 1s or high seeds. We just took away all hope in that game from them early on with the defense, the offense, the relentlessness.”

The million-dollar question, though: Did the finished product live up to Hurley’s notoriously and exorbitantly high standards? 

“I thought it was a pretty good first performance,” he assessed.

Tristen Newton, his potential All-American point guard, delved into specifics, but also offered the brutally honest critique normally reserved for his coach.

“I feel like it was a pretty good game, but we have areas to improve on,” he admitted. “We played great three-point line defense. That’s what the emphasis was, stopping them from the three-point line because they’re a good three-point shooting team.”

That said, Friday’s lid-lifter was merely one that eased the pressure that Hurley addressed during last week’s Big East tournament, a feeling he said did not faze his team due to UConn’s status among college basketball’s elite causing every contest to be pressure-packed to some degree. But with one game in the books and a clash with Northwestern awaiting the Huskies on Sunday, the focus now shifts to upholding as much of today’s commanding win as possible.

“We want to create momentum heading into Sunday,” Alex Karaban said postgame. “We want to continue to establish who we are, no matter what the score is, and continue to play our style of basketball. Momentum’s everything in this tournament for us, so we want to get good momentum going into Northwestern.”

The prospect of upsets, coupled with UConn’s title defense, will always generate questions of whether or not the Huskies feel they can successfully repeat. Donovan Clingan tackled the proverbial elephant in the room Friday, but also downplayed its specter, preferring instead to channel his and his team’s collective energy into what can be done this time around.

“We know what’s on the line,” the sophomore center deadpanned. “It’s win or go home, but we really don’t think about what happened last year. We’re really just trying to achieve a new goal this year with this team, just trying to attack it one game at a time.”