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The No. 25 UConn men's basketball team picked up its second straight win with a 76-65 victory over Texas on the road on Sunday, and head coach Dan Hurley tentatively spoke more positively about his team after the game.
“Maybe the people with the shovels and the dirt, maybe they were too quick to grab the shovel and throw the dirt on us,” Dan Hurley said, via Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media. “Maybe, we'll see.”
After a disastrous trip to the Maui Invitational, where the Huskies went 0-3 with losses to Memphis, Colorado and Dayton. Since then, Hurley's team has gone 3-0. The first win came against Maryland Eastern Shore, which was expected. Then, UConn basketball came away with a big 76-72 win over No. 15 Baylor, as the Huskies showed that they had improved on some of the flaws that were apparent in Maui. Hurley lauded his team's response to the trip to Maui.
“Everything that happened on the Hawaii trip was jarring for the program but the response since we've returned to the mainland speaks to the culture and the championship DNA,” Hurley said, via Zagoria.
UConn has one more game in non-conference play, and it is a big one against No. 7 Gonzaga on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. A win in that spot would help a lot to make up for the disappointing showing in Maui, although some of the pressure is off after beating Baylor and Texas.
UConn basketball's Alex Karaban shows out in return from head injury
The Huskies had a balanced attack against Texas, with four different players scoring in the double digits, but Alex Karaban was the star of the day, scoring 21 points on 6-for-14 shooting while also grabbing 11 rebounds. He missed the previous two games due to a mild concussion.
“All-American level performance and that's what he's going to have to do for this team this year,” Hurley said, via Zagoria. “He played like a star and he delivered in every way. … He had some fresh legs today maybe we've been practicing too hard so this is something now everyone's gonna want the days off,” Hurley joked.
UConn has plenty of players who can score, but Karaban is the most experienced player, and likely will have to be the leader from a vocal standpoint as well as a scoring standpoint. The past two years show that he is capable of doing that, and he lived up to expectations against Texas.
