“I did not go all the way,” Hurley said. “I stopped myself.”
Hurley was addressing the viral video of him allegedly blurting an F-bomb on national television after coming away empty taking half-court shots on the Gameday set. Whether that was true or not may be up for debate. But, as it stands, it is hard to deny that Hurley hasn’t become a massive target of fans around the college basketball landscape as he tries to accomplish the incredibly difficult feat of leading UConn to back-to-back national championships.
On a more positive note, Hurley was pleased with how UConn repeatedly kicked Villanova in the teeth en route to a triple-double from Tristen Newton (10 points, 10 assists, 16 rebounds) and bounce-back game for fan favorite Cam Spencer, who dropped 25 points with five threes to his name.
“Championship response from us today,” Hurley said.
UConn led Villanova, 31-21, at halftime, following an up-and-down opening stanza for the defending champs. Both teams, especially the Wildcats, left a lot to be desired offensively from the opening 20 minutes. Villanova only shot 30 percent from the field, including just 1-for-10 from deep, and Eric Dixon was especially overwhelmed by the size and might of Donovan Clingan inside on a night where the Villanova big man took 19 shots and made only seven.
The only saving grace from the opening proceedings was the defensive intensity brought by both teams. UConn itself was sloppy with the ball in the opening minutes, a testament to Villanova’s stingy guard play led by Mark Armstrong. Still, the Huskies launched a 13-6 run over the final 5:57 of the initial frame, thus establishing the aforementioned halftime margin, and never looked back from there. Yet again, Spencer was the gift that kept giving for the Huskies, supplying two three-pointers during that stretch and bringing a full array of head fakes and pump fakes to fool the Wildcat defense.
Unlike Tuesday night at Creighton, when he was held in check with six points, Spencer got better as the game went on. His expertly crafted and-1 on an up-and-under layup extended the Huskies’ lead to 45-37, which he soon followed with another three and second conventional 3-point play to get the UConn lead to 11 at the 10:19 mark, inspirinh even more life in an already electric Gampel Pavilion crowd.
Hurley described Spencer as being in a foul mood the whole week following Tuesday’s loss at Creighton. On Saturday, he rose from the shadows of defeat with 25 points, tying a season high he set against Mississippi Valley State in the third game of the season.
“I sucked against Creighton,” Spencer said bluntly. “I felt like my defense and my performance pretty much lost us the game, in my opinion.”
Hurley admitted to wanting Spencer to pull the trigger more against Creighton. Still, the coach was quick to voice his respect for how his senior guard deals with criticism, and how his absence on social media points to where his priorities are.
“He doesn’t live in a world most kids his age live in,” Hurley said about Spencer. “He’s not on social media, so this is just a man who doesn’t give a crap about what people are saying, and it’s more his own standards which make him special.”
The final 10 minutes allowed the Huskies to pad their lead for good measure while giving way to Newton’s fourth career triple-double, a program record he will have a chance to break for - third time the rest of the way. Newton’s first triple-double of the season — 15 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds in a rout of Manhattan — came all the way back on November 24.
“Before the game our GA told me I have to get a triple-double,” Newton said with a smile. “Credit to Steph (Castle) and Donovan for boxing out, and the rebounds just fell to me.”
Hurley thought UConn settled at times after watching his team shoot 32 threes, making 10 of them. He wanted to get Clingan the ball more in his mismatch with the undersized Dixon, but will take those minor details and stow them away for now in favor of a 24-point win.
After reeling from the messy exit of former head coach Kevin Ollie, Hurley has placed a large emphasis on welcoming back alums to celebrate the past and present successes of UConn basketball. The retirement of Hamilton’s No. 32 was just the latest reminder of that.
“We’ve embraced that right away,” Hurley said about reuniting with old faces who may have flocked away over the years. “My relationship with Jim Calhoun was one of the most important things to me, and that relationship has helped me become a better coach. It’s helped me navigate this job, as well as my relationship with Geno (Auriemma).”
Fittingly, UConn got to boast the passion and glory of its program against a Villanova program that had won two national championships over the past seven years. Nevertheless, on occasion, the growing strength of one program met head-on with the gradual decline of another. In the grand scheme of things, that means something for UConn.
“Even (Saturday), they were out there talking,” Newton said. “We made a statement.”
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