The pressure’s on Huskies and Hurley
ALBANY — Dan Hurley isn’t running away from the obvious: Connecticut enters the NCAA Tournament with a bull’s-eye on its back.
It is one of the teams with the most to lose, partly because of its high seed, but also due to recent March failures. Under Hurley, the No. 4 Huskies have been one-anddone in the tournament as the higher seed each of the last two years. A big March is all that is missing since Hurley took over in Storrs five years ago.
He has recruited well. He has produced NBA draft picks. But he has yet to win when it really matters.
“This is the pressure business. I’m fortunate that the way I was raised, my upbringing in the game, I’ve been around this my whole life,” Hurley said on Thursday at MVP Arena, as UConn prepared to face No. 13 Iona late Friday afternoon. “I’ve existed in this world. I’ve been engineered to experience this since I was like a little kid.”
This is Hurley’s best team. It is deep, physical and talented. It is one of just four teams in the country ranked in the top 20 in both offensive (sixth) and defensive (19th) efficiency. Sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins is a projected firstround NBA draft pick and junior forward Adama Sanogo is one of the premier big men in the country.
In November, the Huskies defeated Alabama, the overall top seed in the tournament. They manhandled Marquette, the second seed in the East Region, on Feb. 7. That is the Golden Eagles’ lone loss since Jan. 15.
“They’re not a four-seed,” Iona coach Rick Pitino said. “I think we all know who have watched them [play], they could go to a Final Four and win a national championship.”
UConn (25-8) enters the tournament having won nine of its past 11 games. The two losses were by a combined five points, to Marquette and Creighton. The team’s rabid fan base is expecting at least a few victories. The school hasn’t won a tournament game since 2016.
“We don’t need to stray far from who we’ve been this year. We play top-20 defense. We’re a top-10 offense,” Hurley said. “We can dominate you on the backboard. We just have to go out and do what we’ve done for the last five months, and that should put us in a pretty good spot.”