Hurley’s message: ‘Finish, finish, finish’
It is easy to believe the UConn men put themselves over the top with their win at Seton Hall on Wednesday. But there is one more game to play in the regular season, and coach Dan Hurley has been warning against complacency.
“Finish,” Hurley said Friday, “finish, finish, finish. ... Finish.
“I’ve said finish the last two days probably 2,000 times, maybe more. Finish. This year has meant a lot to everyone involved with the program, it’s brought a lot of excitement back to the men’s side, so like, let’s finish. ... finish.”
Nothing convoluted about that messaging. The Huskies (13-6, 10-6 in the Big East) have clinched the No.3 seed for the Big East Tournament and their metrics, No. 32 in NetRankings, suggest an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is theirs to lose.
They’ll be facing a Georgetown team, Saturday at noon at Gampel
Pavilon, that has won four of five, the one loss coming versus UConn on Feb. 23, a tough game the Huskies put away over the last 13 minutes.
“This has not been an easy year with the COVID and the lack of crowds and the way their lives have been disrupted,” Hurley said. “[I’m most proud] of the way they’ve just stayed in there and continued to battle for their season and to turn this thing around here.”
Adams honored
Though junior Brendan Adams, the first recruit to commit to UConn after Hurley took over, has not played much down the stretch, he has been excelling in class. He will be honored among the seniors in pregame ceremonies, as he is on track to graduate in May with his degree in economics in just three years.
“We couldn’t afford to take a flyer [in 2018] on somebody we didn’t believe in wholeheartedly as a person,” Hurley said, “and as a guy we could build an outstanding culture with. This guy is just the hardest worker, an incredible example of everything you want in your program. Although his role isn’t right now what he wants it to be, we’re not in this spot without him.”
Jackson: ‘freak of all freaks’
The coach may raise a few eyebrows with this assessment of freshman Andre Jackson: “He’s the best athlete I’ve ever seen in person,” Hurley said. “Somebody’s going to put that on Twitter and [James] Bouknight mentioned that to me, but Andre’s the freak of all freaks and I think he’ll eventually be drafted as a point guard.” ... Senior Josh Carlton is about “90-95%” recovered from his sore ankle, Hurley said, so he will likely play. Isaiah Whaley is working with a sore hip.