Huskies’ Hurley, Young cleared to return for today’s game

UConn head coach Dan Hurley and his top assistant Kimani Young will be back on the sideline for Sunday’s Big East game against Butler after a one-game absence due to testing positive for COVID.

They were cleared to rejoin the team after completing the customary isolation period.

That’s what’s known for sure about the noon start at the XL Center in Hartford.

Which UConn team will show up — the current slump-ridden one or one closer to resembling the potent team last seen almost a month ago — is an entirely different matter.

What’s happened to the No. 15 Huskies (15-5, 4-5), who won their first 14 games before dropping five of their last six games, is a hot topic of conversation around the college basketball world. It’s their worst losing skid since the 2019-20 season.

They’ve gone from a serious contender for the Big East title to fighting to try to stay in the upper half of the league. Entering Saturday’s action, they were tied for sixth place with Villanova.

With assistants Luke Murray and Tom Moore in charge, UConn suffered a crushing 67-66 loss on Wednesday at Seton Hall, which scored the game-winning basket on an offensive rebound in the closing seconds. The Pirates led for just eight seconds in the entire game.

A visit by Butler (11-9, 3-6), which resides in next to last place in the Big East, may be just what UConn needs to break out of its funk. The Huskies have won all six meetings.

Given the way the Huskies are playing, they can’t afford to take any opponent lightly.

“We’re going to have to battle to win it,” sophomore Jordan Hawkins said.

In its most impressive Big East win this season, UConn dominated the first meeting back on Dec. 17 in Indianapolis. The Huskies controlled the boards, owning a 54-30 margin, and limited the Bulldogs to 29.6 percent from the field in a 68-46 victory.

The Bulldogs come into the rematch banged up. Only eight players were available for their last game against Creighton on Tuesday. Their best Big East win came against Villanova, a 79-71 decision on Jan. 13.

Injuries haven’t been the issue for the Huskies, who are healthy outside of reserve forward Samson Johnson who’s been out with a foot injury since the season opener.

Almost everything else seems to be a problem, though.

Let’s focus on their ugly second half performances in the five losses.

They’ve been outscored by nine points or more in the final 20 minutes in all five losses and shot just 36 percent from the field.

At Seton Hall, they blew a 14-point halftime lead and tied a season low for second half points with just 26.

Turnovers have been a major issue, especially in the last two games during which they've committed 39 in losses to St. John's and Seton Hall.

Mistakes include careless passes and players stepping out of bounds.

Defensive pressure has bothered UConn's ballhandlers.

“It's been something that we've been working on in practice,” said Murray after Wednesday's loss. “We prepared for dealing with that sort of thing with St. John's, too. I guess all I can say is we've got to keep working on it.”

Maybe the return of Hurley will give them a lift.

Something has to change for UConn to get back on the winning track.

“We've just got to focus and get back to our identity,” senior Tristen Newton said. “We have to be mentally tough. We have to go back to what we were doing — hustle, block out, jump up and get the rebounds. We have to put our minds to that so we can do that.

“And we have to be physically tough, too. … We can't be getting pushed around like we have been.”