After a close 77-73 win against the Florida Gators, UConn Huskies stars Alex Karaban and Solo Ball spoke to the media, describing their experience of facing the reigning National Champions since last season’s second-round exit.
While both Ball and Karaban were talking about not letting last season’s emotions seep in this season for the matchup, coach Dan Hurley pulled up to sit between the two in the press conference. Within moments, Hurley said something to both of his players that left them in splits.
Hurley whispered in Ball and Karaban’s ears, which Karaban later clarified, saying that their coach was tired and wanted to go home. Speaking on the mic, Hurley later told his players,
“Everyone’s got to shower because the bus, it can’t smell.” (3:00)
When Karaban asked Hurley if he was going to hit the showers too, Hurley replied,
“Yeah, actually. I was sweating more than half the time!”
Speaking to the press, Dan Hurley also revealed some of his biggest concerns with his team so far this season. Though the Huskies have extended their record to 9-1 so far, one of the problems they have faced through the season has been with their rebounding. Addressing the same, Hurley said,
“I would say my biggest concern right now is the rebounding. We were minus-20 versus Arizona, with obviously no Tarris, and then we gave up 16 offensive rebounds in a game where the goal is to try to hold them to eight. So we’re minus-12 on the glass. That’s a concern, that’s probably my biggest concern.”
The Huskies survived this matchup because their big shots favored them. They were not physical enough to emerge from the battle. An earlier game against Arizona shows the Huskies had a 23-43 rebounding deficit. Coach Hurley’s concerns are pretty much valid as UConn faces a brutal schedule stretch ahead. Inconsistencies could flip games out of their favor.
UConn Has Great Expectations For Their Upcoming Game Against Texas
The UConn Huskies have been off to a great start, and Dan Hurley knows it very well. He thinks this is a chance for the program’s most impressive non-conference resume yet. Speaking to the press after the game against Florida, Hurley hopes to cap off the team’s impressive non-conference slate with a big win against Texas. He said,
“For us, the Texas game is a huge game. That game on Friday is — and this group deserves just the best home crowd we’ve had in a while for that game because this team has really, really worked for its fan base.”
UConn returns to Storrs at 4-1 against ranked foes, with their sole loss to No. 1 Arizona, the team that ousted them from last year’s NCAA Tournament. This matchup fueled revenge motivation, as forward Alex Karaban noted postgame, with many players still stung from that defeat. Karaban tallied 13 points on efficient 5-for-8 shooting, Tarris Reed Jr. added 12, and Solo Ball led with 19 in the effort.
As overall team health improves, the Huskies demonstrate elite potential, and coach Dan Hurley predicts top-5 or top-10 rankings in both offense and defense once rebounding strengthens.
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