UConn men's hoops looks ahead to the NCAA Tournament

With just three Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament field, UConn is carrying the banner for the league as it heads into Thursday’s shootaround and Friday’s Round of 64 opener against 16-seeded Stetson. Head coach Dan Hurley is eagerly anticipating a return to non-conference play, where his team is 27-1 going back to last year.

“We’re not a mauling team, we’re a movement team,” Hurley explained. “We can move incredibly hard and we’re athletic. Some of the games in the Big East are not to our benefit when they turn into a wrestling match…

“We’re deep, and we love the freedom of movement.”

The Huskies started this week with a light workout and have slowly ramped up their preparation in anticipation of Friday’s 2:45 p.m. tip-off followed by a second-round game on Sunday against the winner of No. 8 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 9 Northwestern.

In an interview with Storrs Central, associate head coach Kimani Young shared that he’s on the scout for Stetson while assistant coach Luke Murray has the next matchup, and they’ll alternate through the end of the tournament.

For more on UConn’s offensive excellence, including how this evolution occurred, you all need to check out this great feature story by FOX, which covers Hurley’s offensive awakening and the role of Murray in it, as well as how different players factored into the equation. 

While Hurley’s team has been playing at a high level all season, through multiple injuries to key starters, it’s finding another level with ramped-up offensive efficiency and stellar play from the bench. Freshman wing Jaylin Stewart scored eight and nine points, respectively, in the final two games of the Big East Tournament and may be in line for a bigger role the rest of the way.

“Stewie earned his wings,” Hurley said. “I think it’s a great story and it’s a great lesson. It’s opened up other opportunities for us, too, in these next couple of games,” he added, suggesting that he and Alex Karaban may be on the floor together more.

Hurley has long postulated that Samson Johnson will thrive once he gets out of Big East play, in the movement center role with the high-hedging defense. Johnson seems to have found his way in the BET while Hassan Diarra has brought the energy all year and was stellar on both ends last weekend at MSG.

Hurley likened Diarra’s impact to a combination of two bench contributors last year: Nahiem Alleyne, who was a great defender, and the instant offense of Joey Calcaterra. 

“Hass has brought both,” Hurley shared. “You can only do this with depth, the type of season we’ve had.”

While the Huskies are the reigning national champions, they still have multiple guys experiencing the NCAA Tournament for the first time, including Cam Spencer, who transferred over from Rutgers and Loyola (MD), and freshmen in key roles like starter Stephon Castle, in addition to Stewart off the bench. Last year, Diarra played 32 minutes in six NCAA Tournament games; Johnson played just nine.

For more on the game and tournament, you can check out the Fast Break Podcast and YouTube Preview show!

Friend of Storrs Central Jared Kotler also had an interview with Stetson head coach Donnie Jones on the CT Scoreboard. Definitely worth checking out!