UConn's Dan Hurley Blasts Huskies' Defense In Maui: 'Just So Dreadful'
Although the officiating at this year’s Maui Invitational has been sub-par, the UConn Huskies need to learn to defend without fouling, and head coach Dan Hurley knows it.
In the postgame press conference following UConn’s 73-72 loss to Colorado on Tuesday in Lahaina, Hurley acknowledged UConn’s defensive woes.
“We’ve been bad out here defensively,” Hurley said. “The foul trouble has taken its toll, too.”
“Our defense has been just so dreadful. Just so dreadful out here.”
“We could not afford for Hassan (Diarra) and Alex (Karaban) to be in foul trouble in the first half. They put us in a very compromised position by sitting that whole first half.”
“I was really impressed with how we played considering that first half. At halftime, I felt like we were going to do what we do at UConn, which is … get it to double figures and then surge in that game.”
That never happened for the Huskies, as the Buffaloes from Colorado only became more confident as the second half wore on. Six-foot-ten senior center Elijah Malone was tremendous down the stretch for Colorado. Malone employed a poised, skilled post attack to pick apart the Huskies’ interior defense, especially with both Tarris Reed Jr. and Samson Johnson in foul trouble throughout the game.
Johnson picked up his third foul seconds into the second half on a somewhat mysterious call.
But the Huskies need to look past the officiating and look in the mirror. Their habit of fouling three-point shooters, for instance, must be cut out if UConn wants to become a great team this season.
There’s something fishy going on with UConn and the refs in Maui, but ultimately, the prevailing narrative is that the Huskies haven’t played well.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org