Huskies hope to end historic skid

STORRS — UConn and Temple are two teams going in the same direction. And it’s not a positive direction.

Both are 10-9 overall. Temple is 2-5 in the AAC; UConn is 1-5. Both are directed by relatively new head coaches: UConn’s Dan Hurley is in his second year at the Huskies’ helm, while Aaron McKie is in his first with the Owls.

“We’re both coming into the game in desperation mode, not in a good place in conference,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’re probably in a similar place in terms of level of desperation.”

Maybe all you have to know is that, entering Wednesday’s bout at Gampel Pavilion (7 p.m., ESPNews), the teams sit right next to each other in the NCAA’s NET rankings — Temple at No. 96, UConn at 97.

The Huskies’ current plight can be attributed somewhat to bad luck. UConn has lost its last four games — to three ranked teams and AAC leader Tulsa — by a combined 19 points. All four losses have been by six points or less.

It’s the first time in program history that UConn has lost four straight games by six points or less.

“Never seen anything like it, as a coach or a player, where a group fights so hard and competes,” Hurley said. “Two of those on the road, against two of the hardest, toughest teams we’ll play against in Houston and Villanova.”

But Hurley also pointed out, “The last couple of places I coached at (Wagner and Rhode Island), we had historic seasons. We’ll just take it in stride.”

Temple is coming off a loss to crosstown rival Penn on Saturday. UConn dropped an overtime decision to Tulsa on Sunday in Hartford, its latest heartbreaking loss.

In the moments after the loss, there was more heartbreak when the team learned of Kobe Bryant’s death. That put the Huskies’ four-game losing skid, as painful as it’s been, in perspective.

“Usually we ruminate and spiral on the loss,” Hurley said. “That was impossible to do on Sunday. Obviously, you thought about the game, but so much of

your attention went to Kobe and what he’s meant to all of us.

“You lose perspective a lot, especially when things aren’t going well. That was a reality check. I gave my wife Andrea a longer hug, made sure I got on the phone with my son Danny at college. I spent a lot more time around my son, Andrew, that night, as opposed to locking myself in the basement and being miserable about another loss.”

Hurley sent out a 10minute video to his players that detailed Bryant’s life, from when he was a 17year-old to the present.

“Watching him evolve into the all-time great player and just an amazing all-around man — family man, business man — it’s hard on a lot of us players and coaches,” Hurley noted. “He meant so much.”

McKie was born and raised in Philadelphia and played at Temple. He remembers a young Kobe working out often at Temple, where Bryant’s sister played volleyball. He’s had a lot of conversations with his players since Kobe’s death.

“It was difficult, initially, because he’s a hero to those guys,” McKie said. “Somebody they didn’t know, but they feel they could touch. It hurts. I think everybody’s hurting about it, on a global scale.”

Hurley noted that the day after Bryant’s final game, in which he scored 60 points, he was up at 5 a.m. to begin the next phase of his life — writing, filmwork.

If you “aspire to have great success or be part of a championship-level organization,” Hurley pointed out, “there’s your role model right there.”