UConn's Dan Hurley doesn't hold back about opening night
11/07/2024 08:45 AM
One would assume that UConn head coach Dan Hurley would’ve been elated during his first postgame press conference of the season. Not only were the Huskies able to raise a championship banner which commemorated the sixth title that the men’s basketball team has won in the last 25 years, but UConn also cruised to a 92-56 victory over Sacred Heart.
In his postgame remarks, Hurley said that he was pleased with the fact that his team out-rebounded Sacred Heart by 22, and dished out 25 assists on 32 made baskets. He didn’t even seem to mind the 13 turnovers, noting that the occasionally sloppy play was a product of the “bizarre s**t” that comes with opening up. And speaking of opening night… Dan Hurley is not a fan.
UConn coach Dan Hurley’s opening statement after season-opening 92-56 win pic.twitter.com/rvLxSJEWX9
— Gavin Keefe (@GavinKeefe) November 7, 2024
“I hate opening night,” Hurley said in his postgame press conference. “It’s the worst day of the year, I hate it. And that’ll be the thing that drives me out of coaching, is how you feel when you wake up on opening night and you have no idea what your team is about to go do.”
Fortunately for the demanding head coach, his UConn Huskies looked pretty damn good right out of the gate. Junior forward Alex Karaban, who flirted with the NBA Draft before ultimately deciding to return to Storrs, filled the stat sheet with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and a career-high 7 blocks. Prized freshman Liam McNeeley got his college career off to a solid start, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Transfer center Tarris Reed kicked his UConn career off with a double-double off the bench.
Even still, Dan Hurley sees plenty of room for improvement, and cautions Huskies fans to be patient as the team progresses through the season.
“We’re going to get drastically better throughout the year,” Hurley said. “I think when you look at the team and people are imagining what the team looked like last year, like you can’t compare what we looked like last year. The last time you saw us play and then you see us tonight and you say, ‘Wait, they don’t look as good as the last time I saw them in Phoenix.’ Well, it took us a while to get that good.”
UConn has three more gimmes at home — vs. New Hampshire, Le Moyne and Texas A&M Commerce — before they head to Hawaii to take part in the 2024 Maui Invitational, which has a stacked field that includes North Carolina, Iowa State, Auburn, Memphis and Michigan State.
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