UConn’s improvements are already on display, but ceiling is still higher for Huskies as OOC season comes to close

Solo Ball and UConn, now 8-1, conclude non-conference schedule this week against Florida and Texas. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

NEW YORK — A winner of eight of its first nine games this season, UConn has already offered its potential.

The fifth-ranked Huskies have done this season what few others in the country can match in their defeats of three ranked teams — BYU, Illinois and Kansas — through one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. UConn’s sole loss was a four-point setback to a now top-ranked Arizona team, a loss that has an asterisk attached to it given the absence of center Tarris Reed, Jr. due to injury. Head coach Dan Hurley challenged his team prior to defeating Kansas on the road, urging this roster to make its own history and carve out a niche amid the legends and champions past in what has come to be dubbed the basketball capital of the world. Five weeks into the season, that unit has mostly made good on the ultimatum.

“If you’re the ’26 UConn team, you’re tired of looking at banners that you didn’t put up there,” Hurley reiterated, setting the objective for a third championship in four seasons. “You’re tired of seeing trophies with nets around the base of it. You want to go start creating your own championship season. You want to be the best team, you want to do things that other teams didn’t accomplish.”

“Alex (Karaban), Solo (Ball), Jaylin (Stewart), Jayden (Ross), they’re the only guys that have really had anywhere near that level of success in a UConn uniform. So if I’m these other guys that haven’t won shit at UConn, I want to start getting mine.”

UConn has carried itself in that manner in the majority of its showings thus far, even as Reed has missed five of the Huskies’ nine games with separate hamstring and ankle injuries. While Hurley misses having the senior’s unrivaled rim protection and nose for the basketball, he counts a blessing in disguise from Reed’s absence, the ability of freshman Eric Reibe to not only hold his own while thrust into the fire.

“I’m floored by how well and how tough Big Eric has been for us,” Hurley said in a conference call Monday. “Eric has done an incredible job and deserves probably the most credit of anyone in the program for the position we’ve been able to keep ourselves in, considering losing maybe the most impactful player on the team relative to our offense, defense and rebounding. Eric has held up and he’s played great.”

Reed is a gametime decision for UConn’s matchup Tuesday against Florida in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, a battle of two programs that have won the last three national championships between them. While Hurley did not tip his hand as to whether or not Reed would be available, saying he would see how the veteran felt after warmups, he did hint at a future double-big look in the lineup between Reed and Reibe when the former does return.

“We’ve had the success we’ve had here because we’ve had a two-big system,” Hurley posited. “And this is a game where, with the help of Tarris, you can play the two bigs together. I think the both of them are skilled enough that when Tarris is back healthy, you can see them both on the court together more than we’ve played two centers in the past.”

“Tarris’ return is real important for what we want to accomplish. This team has held the line and fought really hard to win some games against some really big teams and some really good teams, and we’re just kind of holding down the fort until he feels healthy enough to get back.”

The impending battle with the Gators also carries somewhat of the same revenge factor that UConn’s trip to Kansas did for Alex Karaban, Solo Ball, Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross, all of whom were on the Husky team that lost to the Jayhawks in 2023. It was Florida who ended UConn’s reign atop the sport last March, as the Gators shook off a determined and valiant effort from the Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on their way to a championship. Hurley, noted for his superstitions and deep-seated aversion to losing, discussed watching that game as he prepared for an 18th-ranked Florida team that returns several players from that title-winning outfit, plus a new backcourt of Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee and Arkansas castoff Boogie Fland.

“You kind of have to relive the game as part of the preparation for this game,” Hurley said. “It didn’t make me too sad. It made me think about how worthy of a champion they were, and kind of how far off we were last year that we still played our way into an opportunity.”

“Florida’s as big a challenge as anyone that we’ve faced or anyone that we’ve seen. To see them go on the road and show that championship DNA, to have a chance to win at Duke, that tells you everything you need to know about what we’re up against. When it’s all said and done, they’re gonna be there at the end. It’s a fun game, it’s an exciting game, it’s going to be a cool atmosphere at MSG, an electric atmosphere. We’ve both played a number of games like this, but the last two national champions playing is special.”

And as Florida has reloaded, so too have the Huskies. Now three games into his college career, Braylon Mullins continues to come into his own as he plays an increased amount of minutes, while Reibe and Ross are the clear seventh and eighth men on the roster when Reed is healthy. The most noticeable improvement has been on the defensive end, where UConn has traditionally made its bones under Hurley. Last year’s 75th-ranked defense, per Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, has been fortified by a unit that is now seventh-best in that department. Only yielding a fraction over 60 points per contest, Hurley credits a renewed player development for the uptick, as well as the infusion of Silas Demary, Jr. to the backcourt as a two-way point guard.

“The biggest area that’s allowed our team to be successful this year is the defensive improvement of the team,” Hurley explained. “A lot of that has to do with Silas, and a lot of that has to do with some of the guys that returned are better defenders than they were last year. They went from guys that weren’t good defensive players to being average, above average, pretty good defenders. The difference with our team is we’re bringing a defense to the court that can sustain us when we have off shooting nights and when we’re playing against another really good defense. We could win a game with our defense. Last year, we could literally never win a game with our defense, because our defense sucked.”

Only Florida and Texas remain for UConn before opening Big East play one week from Tuesday against Butler. Wins over the Gators and Longhorns would place the Huskies at 10-1, firmly entrenched among the strongest championship contenders this season. Regardless, the end results of the non-league portion of the schedule have been eye-opening to Hurley, with the best efforts still ahead.

“I’m very encouraged and have more belief in what the group can do, what we can be long-term,” he said. “A lot of these guys are going to keep getting better. I think Braylon is nowhere near comfortable yet, Eric is gonna get better and better, and again, we’ve just got so much depth and so many guys that can help us win a game.”