UConn chases third straight national championship starting Friday, but Liam McNeeley (30) makes NCAA Tournament debut as Huskies will face Oklahoma. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)
RALEIGH, N.C. — As a No. 8 seed trying to win its third straight national championship, UConn is still a prime object of affections in the college basketball world. Only this year, some of the attention pointed toward the Huskies has come in a different light.
Can Dan Hurley turn the perceived slights and disregard into another March run to remember? Can Alex Karaban complete an unprecedented trifecta and go 3-for-3 on the first Monday in April? Can UConn even get out of the first round against a tough opponent in Oklahoma, with the winner almost assured of playing a Florida team many predict to be the last men standing in San Antonio?
According to Karaban, the outside noise has not pervaded the walls of the locker room.
Head coach Dan Hurley, who has been under the microscope equally as much as, if not more than his players, spun the skepticism into a positive.
“As crazy as it sounds, we’re more battle-tested, (we’ve) just been through way more,” he proposed. “We just had so many moments that we’re not accustomed to, or where the team’s been the last couple years, that were very jarring. But we also battled back and were able to play really well at the end of the year.”
“I feel like, in a weird way, it’s a little pressure off of us going into the tournament where we could just go out and let it rip right now. We don’t have this huge pressure of expectations. A lot of people don’t think we’re going to win the first game.”
One thing UConn has managed to do well this season is bounce back from stretches that would break younger or lesser teams. Whether it was responding from a winless week in Maui by winning eight straight, or using the return of Liam McNeeley in February to resemble flashes of the juggernaut it was the past two years, the reigning champion has leaned on its will and mettle more often than not.
“I would just say the last three years, we’ve been through a lot but we stayed resilient,” Hassan Diarra said in summarizing the road the Huskies have traveled. “I think that’s the main thing. When adversity hits, how do you respond? Your resilience is gonna get you through it and ultimately make you successful.”
“Having done what we’ve done the last two years, there’s no pressure,” Karaban echoed. “This is a completely different team, we’ve been on a completely different journey. I think this year, we have so many new guys that want to experience the championship. We want to help them experience that championship and let them get that feeling.”
The next step in that journey begins Friday night against Oklahoma, one of a record 14 teams from the Southeastern Conference to earn a tournament bid. As always, UConn’s efforts on the defensive end of the floor will largely dictate how far and long the Huskies will travel, but if consistency is found on Tobacco Road, it could send the boulder rolling down the proverbial hill, so to speak.
“We’ve been a bad defensive team at different parts of this year,” Hurley admitted. “But if we could play good defense and play this first game, play well, find a way to advance, UConn becomes very, very dangerous when we get out of the first round.”
“We’ve not had a very good regular season for our standards of what we’re trying to accomplish, but we could change that whole narrative and change the way that we view this season by playing our best this month right here and trying to get on a run. We could salvage the whole year, and we have the capability.”
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