UConn Huskies Jump Seven Spots In Latest AP Top 25 Rankings After Massive Win
In a highly anticipated Saturday night matchup, the UConn Huskies took care of business against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden.
UConn, the No. 18-ranked team in the country last week, blitzed the No. 8 Bulldogs from the start, withstood their various runs, and secured a marquee 77-71 victory.
As a result, Dan Hurley’s crew improved to 8-3 on the year and moved up seven spots in the latest AP Top 25 rankings.
Saturday’s pivotal non-conference win will do wonders for UConn’s confidence, but the Huskies had to overcome adversity to prevail on the big stage.
“Sam (Samson Johnson) obviously, he’s going to go into the (concussion) protocol,” Hurley said during his postgame press conference. "He was screaming at the end of the bench, I’m good, I’m back. It’s a shame, because he started that game in electrifying fashion. Obviously, the lob off the pin to start and the lefty dunk.”
“Offensively, we were humming when he was in the game. To be able to beat a team of that caliber with Alex (Karaban) having a bad shooting game, Solo (Ball) being in foul trouble, and, you know, having a bad shooting game, it speaks to the makeup of these players.”
After losing to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton at the Maui Invitational in November, UConn could have folded and experienced a devastating downward spiral. Fortunately, the Huskies regrouped and drastically improved their quality of play, resulting in four consecutive victories.
“When we were going through the Maui experience and then returned home, people who are not of our character and caliber may have gone into a pretty big slide,” Hurley added. "We could have found ourselves under .500 going into league play pretty easily with the stretch of games.”
“Liam McNeeley was born to replace Cam Spencer, Tarris (Reed Jr.) has improved his efficiency, and, you know, just trusting the sophomores. They showed tonight that we probably made the right decision to take some lumps early."
"The upside of Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross, and Solo Ball gives us a chance to improve a lot more throughout the course of the year than a lot of teams that are really old right now.”
While a three-peat may be challenging for the Huskies to achieve, it’s been encouraging to witness Hurley and company bounce back from their uncharacteristic showing in Maui and return to their regularly scheduled programming.
More NCAA: Dan Hurley, UConn Praised By Gonzaga's Mark Few: 'Heart Of A Champion'
Caleb Hightower is a graduate of Hofstra University and can write about any sport, but he has a particular passion for basketball – specifically college and NBA. He has written for publications such as FanBuzz and Busting Brackets since graduating. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org Twitter: https://x.com/CalebHightower1