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The expectation coming into the season was that the UConn Huskies would take a step back from last year. After all, following the Huskies 5th National Championship since 1999, three starters and two key bench contributors departed the program. But if the first few weeks of the college basketball season have taught us anything, it's that UConn has seemingly picked up right where they left off.
With their 84-64 win over New Hampshire on Monday night, the Huskies broke an NCAA record set nearly 15 years ago by the North Carolina Tar Heels. The 20-point victory was UConn's 24th consecutive win in non-conference action by double-digits, a run that included all six of their wins in the NCAA Tournament last year.
It's an unparalleled run of dominance by a team and a program that often gets lost in the shuffle of the Duke's, North Carolina's, Kentucky's, Michigan State's, and Kansas' of the college basketball world. But now, maybe with this record, the necessary respect will finally be put on the name of Dan Hurley's program.
“It's great to share a record with the men from last year's team,” Hurley told reporters after Monday's game, per Jeff Borzello of ESPN. “The men from this year's team and the men from last year's team, they're such great men. Andre [Jackson] and Adama [Sanogo] and Jordan [Hawkins] and Nahiem [Alleyne] and Joey [Calcaterra], just the whole group. It's great to share something with them that will be tough to break, I think, moving forward in today's game, with the portal and everything that's going on. I think it just speaks to the respect we have for our opponents, the level of preparation we put in for every single game, and just the formula these guys buy into. The rebounding, the defense, the sharing the ball on offense. I'm proud of it.”
Dan Hurley should be proud. He's stepped out of the shadow of his brother and father and established himself as one of the best coaches in the NCAA today. And with All-American candidates Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton leading the way, UConn fans are well within reason to be thinking about if the Huskies can become the first team to repeat as National Champions since the 2006-07 Florida Gators.
But that's a goal that can't be attained until March.
In order for UConn to extend their streak to 25 games, it'll require the Huskies to secure perhaps their most impressive non-conference win yet. On Friday, Connecticut will head to Allen Fieldhouse to take on the 5th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks.
