In the first four games of the season, it’s safe to say that the UConn Huskies have not yet been tested by an opponent they’ve faced. On Tuesday night, UConn defeated East Texas A&M by the final score of 81-46. It was their fourth straight win by at least 35 points. And while you’d think that would be enough the Huskies to depart Gampel Pavilion feeling good, UConn head coach Dan Hurley was in no mood to celebrate on Tuesday night.
Following the 35-point win over Lions, Hurley wasn’t shy about the fact that even in victory, his team played well below the standard that has been set over the last two years in Storrs. He went as far as calling his team’s performance “comically bad.”
UConn coach Dan Hurley on his team’s performance: “Comically bad.” pic.twitter.com/jymJ5dbU7A
— Gavin Keefe (@GavinKeefe) November 20, 2024
“Ball security throughout the game … it’s been a long time since we’ve been that bad,” Hurley said. “To (have) a negative assist-to-turnover ratio? We’re one of the best passing and ball security teams in the country.”
Dan Hurley’s right. It has been a long time since UConn has had a performance as sloppy as this one. In fact, you have to go back to the last time Hurley and the Huskies took an L, back on February 20th to Creighton, to find the last occasion UConn had an even or negative assist-to-turnover ratio. You have to go back even further — January 15th, 2023 — to find the last time a UConn squad turned the ball over 19-plus times.
This “debacle” of a performance comes on the heels of a Monday press conference in which Hurley lamented the need for his two primary ball-handling guards, Hassan Diarra and Aidan Mahaney, to play better moving forward. Diarra and Mahaney didn’t necessarily answer the call against East Texas A&M. Mahaney knocked down two triples, and Diarra was a menace defensively, but the two lead guards combined for just four assists and five turnovers.
The next time that UConn takes the floor it will be for their opening round matchup in the Maui Invitational against the Memphis Tigers. From there, assuming the Huskies defeat Memphis, UConn would play the winner of the matchup between Michigan State and Colorado. A potential matchup in the Maui Finals would pit the two-time defending champions against either Iowa State, Auburn, North Carolina or Dayton.
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