Dan Hurley, UConn Keep On Doing the Same Things

The pregame rituals are important. So is having the best team.

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Dan Hurley is a very superstitious coach. He eats eight M&Ms before every game, tossing aside any that share colors with his next opponents. During the UConn's drubbing of Northwestern last Sunday, CBS and TNT Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said Hurley's wife travels with a portable washing machine so he can wear the the exact same outfit he wore as the Huskies marched to a national championship last season.

It is entirely possible he doesn't need to do those things. That he could wear whatever underwear he wants and still feel confident his team will emerge victorious. Because they are really, really good.

Perhaps that's not the best analysis, so how about this: these Huskies might be even better than last year, despite losing Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson Jr. and Adama Sanogo to the NBA. This year's version could not, as Mike Greenberg has claimed repeatedly, make the Eastern Conference playoff field, but the good news for them is they don't have to. All they need to do in order to secure the first back-to-back national titles since Florida accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007, is to win three more matchups with college basketball teams.

The Huskies were once again dominant Thursday night in an 82-52 rout of San Diego State in a rematch of last April's title game. They await the winner of Illinois-Iowa State for a spot in the Final Four. And the truly scary thing is they did not exactly play up to their potential.

Over a five-minute, 51-second stretch in the first half, UConn went ice-cold, missing 13 of its 14 field goal attempts. That allowed the Aztecs to cut the lead to 33-29. It was the type of prolonged dry spell that would cause serious problems for almost any other team in the tournament. But it barely fazed the Huskies as they snared offense rebound after offensive rebound and wore down San Diego State for the inevitable knockout blow. From that point Hurley's team went on a 49-23 blitz over the final 23-plus minutes.

UConn has so many weapons and they all do something different. Transfer guard Cam Spencer was the only player who could find the bottom of the basket around that bumpy first half stretch and he finished 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. His backcourt-mate Tristen Newton crashed the offensive glass with reckless abandon to collect six offensive boards to go with his 17 points. Fellow guard Stephon Castle scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds. All of the Huskies starters secured at least five board as they outrebounded San Diego State 50-29. Twenty-one of those came on the offensive end.

Hurley is going to keep what he's doing in order to get into his preferred mindset. But it's not the candy or the clothing that has special powers. It's the roster.

Kyle Koster is an editor at The Big Lead.