UConn has been able to respond well after losses this season, something Dan Hurley and Huskies will have to do again entering NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
With a second chance to secure the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament after Florida was shockingly upset by Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament earlier in the day, the Huskies spotted St. John’s a 10-0 head start and trailed by double digits for a majority of the night before ultimately registering a season-low 52 points against the Red Storm.
Head coach Dan Hurley expressed concerns for UConn’s viability in March Madness, where the Huskies will presumably be a No. 2 seed and most likely play their first and potentially second-round games in Philadelphia. However, the coach also took a moment to acknowledge what his team has done over the course of the year to offset the two missed opportunities that loom large between last week’s loss at Marquette in the regular season finale, as well as last night’s setback.
“The reality of this team is this has been a great season for these guys,” Hurley reiterated as a 29-5 UConn outfit now shifts gears. “We don’t have anything to show for it relative to a championship, but like I said before, it’s a 29-win team that’s earned a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament. If that’s not good enough, that should be good enough.”
While that is still an impressive body of work, one Hurley buoyed by admitting most teams would envy, the Huskies are still not without their noticeable flaws.
“Listen, this team has definitely showed some level of fragility that some of our best teams haven’t,” he said. “I’m concerned about, obviously, some of the shot making. If you really look at just the quality of shots, I think they’ve been pretty good. So I’m concerned that some guys are pressing on the perimeter right now, that are getting really good looks at threes, and the ball security. Those are the things that are very worrisome. We’ve got problems, but I think they’re fixable things.”
Braylon Mullins, who is still one of UConn’s more prominent offensive weapons even while making just six of his last 34 three-point attempts, believes his coach’s assertion, as he is encouraged that the ability his team has shown to turn the page quickly after a loss will manifest again.
“I think we just all need to learn from what happened,” he said. “There were just so many mistakes from the start of the game, towards the end of the game, so I know Coach will really get us to that point. We trust each other and I think we play really well at times, so I think we’ve just gotta move on from what happened and just be confident that it’s a win or go home (game). You can’t afford these anymore.”
Nor can the Huskies afford to lose any of their important players, a concern that was magnified when point guard Silas Demary, Jr. was helped off the floor late in the second half. Demary had retreated to the locker room before that, when he went down after his layup attempt was blocked from behind by St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor. He would return, but appeared to reaggravate what Hurley had initially been told was a “very mild” ankle sprain with no swelling. X-rays will shed further light on his availability, but UConn will proceed regardless of the speculation that Hurley has tried to block out as best he can.
“None of us live in social media,” the coach said. “None of us live in the world where fans attack each other and they bookmark stuff, they trash each other. We live in a much different world. We’re gonna literally watch the film of this. We’re gonna do a film session with the guys, the staff will get together and then we flush it. And we’re gonna be a 2-seed. We’ve had a season at UConn that’s earned us a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, so yeah, we’re gonna get excited about that.”
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