UConn basketball weathering “dog days” ahead of Creighton
February is tough, both for single people and for the UConn men’s basketball team.
The sun, although bleeding above the horizon for an additional two or three minutes per day, sets awkwardly early. It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s raining sideways when it isn’t snowing. The inevitable winter sickness is chasing you (if it hasn’t hit you already).
And, perhaps worst of all, the grim realization that there’s less than a month remaining of UConn’s (24-2, 14-1) regular season starts to set in.
It’s what Dan Hurley refers to as the “dog days.”
“No matter what the KenPom says, or what the NET says or what the metrics say, you get to these dog days of the season, these games are all hard to win,” he said.
It’s true: these guys are tired. They’ve played basketball every day since June against some of the hardiest teams in the country, and the thought of relaxation dangles tantalizingly close in reach.
But Hurley won’t allow it, especially with the ever-steady Greg McDermott and the Creighton Bluejays (13-13, 7-8) shipping up to Storrs Wednesday.
“We need the bench guys to step up so I can play them more,” he added, responding to a quip that Alex Karaban leads the Big East in minutes played. “We need Jaylin (Stewart), we need Jayden (Ross), we need Malachi (Smith), or potentially Alec (Millender). Maybe we just look for a spark and get somebody else in.”
The Huskies’ bench, which at one point looked to be one of the deepest units in the country in December, has slipped to 271st nationally in points per game (17). For contrast, Husky opponents average 18.9 points per game off the bench.
Seven of those 17 points come from freshman center Eric Reibe alone (7.1), who, in wake of Tarris Reed Jr.’s recent foul trouble, has acted as a de-facto starter.
“Based on Tarris’ performance the other night, if it wasn’t for Eric we absolutely [would’ve] lost that game,” Hurley said, referencing Reibe’s 10 points off the bench versus Georgetown.
But it’s been the defensive lapses that’ve given Hurley headaches the last few weeks.
“We haven’t been a team that’s been able to go on long runs either, because, at different parts of the year, we haven’t had the shot making, or now that the shot making has improved, our defense is sliding.”
| Adjusted Def. Efficiency (Torvik) | Number | Rank (National) |
| Nov. 3 to Feb. 6 | 91.4 | 3 |
| Feb. 7 to Feb. 17 | 106.5 | 135 |
Ironing out the defensive lapses will help against Creighton’s slew of shooters, including chief marksmen Josh Dix and late-game maestro Nik Graves.
“We have the ultimate respect for Creighton,” Hurley said. “We know we can’t perform the way we performed the other night and get away with it.”
The Bluejays shoot the 3-ball often (over 50% of the time the last five games) and dish assists at a top 60 rate nationally.
It starts with taking away looks for Dix and heady Miami transfer Austin Swartz from the perimeter, who combine for over four makes on 11 attempts per night from 3.
Down low, veteran forwards Jasen Green and Isaac Traudt have started the lion’s share of games. Undersized from a conventional five-man philosophy, both Green and Traudt have the ability to space the floor and shoot, something Reed and Reibe will have to be wary of.
Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on TNT from Gampel Pavilion. Hurley isn’t requiring a banana suit at the gate, but is encouraging fans to be loud before the game even starts.
“This is the Basketball Capital of the World,” Hurley said. “You see a lot of different lists all the time about the top 5 places to see a college game. You go to see a college basketball game at UConn; it should be a unique experience. It should be up there with going to Kansas or any other place in the country for a game.”
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