Former Saint Mary's star buried on UConn bench

Aidan Mahaney went from a role in the starting lineup to playing limited minutes off the bench for Dan Hurley and the Huskies

UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley reacts after a three point basket by guard Aidan Mahaney/ / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Gonzaga men’s basketball fans have had to watch Aidan Mahaney deliver some big-time performances against their team over the last two seasons.

The 6-foot-3 Lafayette, California, native emerged onto the college basketball scene immediately as a freshman with Saint Mary's in the 2022-23 season. A three-star recruit out of Campolindo High School, Mahaney's familiarity with head coach Randy Bennett and the Gaels program was evident from day one, as he scored 25 points to lead his team to a 78-70 win over Oral Roberts in his first college game on Nov. 7, 2022.

Mahaney’s introduction to the fiery West Coast Conference rivalry between Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga still lives on in Bulldogs infamy. In a heated contest between top 25 teams, Mahaney scored or assisted on 19 of 21 points in a stretch that helped turned the tide in favor of the Gaels, who came away with a 78-70 overtime win on Feb. 4, 2023, in Moraga, California. The Zags, who didn’t trail for 37 minutes in regulation behind Drew Timme’s 23 points, somehow found themselves on the wrong end of an incredible Mahaney outburst. He finished with 18 points and three assists after a 1-for-10 start from the field.

As a whole, year two with Saint Mary’s didn’t yield a massive jump for Mahaney, though he still showed up in crunch time to help his team prevail in two of its three meetings with the Zags during the 2023-24 season. Mahaney helped guide the Gaels to a rare victory in Spokane last February, scoring 11 points in about a 3-minute span to turn the tides down the stretch; he finished with 20 points as Saint Mary’s won, 64-62, on Feb. 3.

The Zags bested the Gaels at their house just a few weeks later, setting up a grudge match in the WCC Championship game in Las Vegas. Mahaney rose to the occasion with 23 points on 9-of-15 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, as Saint Mary’s clinched its spot in the NCAA Tournament with a 69-60 victory from the Orleans Arena. At the end of the season, he was once again named to the All-WCC team.

Since transferring to UConn this past offseason, however, Mahaney hasn’t looked quite like the all-conference player he was under Randy Bennett. With four of the five starters from last season’s championship team gone, the Huskies needed Mahaney to play significant minutes and help initiate their offense early on as they figured out their main rotation. He played 20 minutes per game in all four of UConn’s wins to start the season, averaging 5.8 points and 2.3 assists in those appearances.

Then, just like that, Mahaney went from having a meaningful role in the starting lineup to being benched and playing a combined 15 minutes against Colorado and Dayton in the Maui Invitational. The three-day trip to Lahaina was all-around frustrating for Dan Hurley and company, as they went 0-3 in a 72-hour span while their coveted transfer portal acquisition from Saint Mary’s struggled to stay on the floor. Mahaney had already looked out of sorts to that point in nonleague play, and his lack of production in Maui was a sign that he hadn’t fully settled into his new digs in Storrs, Connecticut, just yet.

If there’s one other thing that’s stood out about Mahaney over the course of his college basketball career, though, it’s that he can’t be counted out from having a bounce-back performance following a letdown. While facing a physical Baylor squad at home, Mahaney showed some toughness to finish with nine points on 3-of-4 from 3-point range, helping the Huskies get back on track with a 76-72 win over the Bears.

As Hurley put it, his point guard “rose like a Phoenix out of the ashes.” It’s hard to imagine someone wants to see Mahaney succeed more than Hurley, especially after the two shared quite the exchange following Mahaney’s second 3-pointer of the first half against Baylor.

Dan Hurley on head-butting Aidan Mahaney:

"I head-butted him, and then he punched me in the chest hard... I think I might have cracked a rib." 😅 pic.twitter.com/Aj1jnvG0g7

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 5, 2024

“We were just fired up,” Mahaney said about the exchange with Hurley during the postgame press conference. “This is one of the things I couldn't wait to get into over here — having a coach like that who gets fired up like the players do. So I just felt like we were in that moment. There was nothing planned, it was all just natural energy and aggression. We were both juiced.”

It remains to be seen how the Huskies (7-3) utilize Mahaney when they take on the Zags (7-2) at Madison Square Garden in New York City this Saturday (5 p.m. PST, FOX). 

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