STORRS, Conn. — How sweet it was to be back home. Connecticut coach Dan Hurley wasted no time expressing his gratitude for his surroundings just moments after No. 25 UConn won 76-72 over 15th-ranked Baylor on Wednesday night.
"Thank you, Gampel. Thank you, Gampel. Thank you, students. Thank you, Gampel," Hurley said as he began his postgame press conference.
The victory was a sorely needed résumé win -- UConn's first of the season that didn't come against a sub-300 KenPom opponent -- after shocking the college basketball world with an 0-3 showing at last week's Maui Invitational.
For Hurley, the past week has been a lot of introspection and accountability -- for himself. His sideline demeanor in Maui made him the target of a lot of criticism and attacks -- some of it justified, some of it overblown; Hurley's intensity is part of why he's compelling and UConn is an elite program -- but he knew the fault of UConn fell to him more than anyone else.
"I think part of the problem has been me," Hurley said Wednesday night. "I've coached these guys frustrated, and I've coached them frustrated for too long. This is a team that's going to be a work in progress, and a team that's going to get better and better. And we're relying on a lot of young players and new players."
He admitted the program's collective ego crashed hard with the first loss in Maui to Memphis. The group never recovered. But on Wednesday, Hurley and his staff had this UConn team playing more like some of the previous two versions, which is to say: a group playing with joy, trusting each other and not being held back by circumstances, such as the absence of junior forward Alex Karaban.
"For us, I had to coach this team with more grace and more building them up and more enthusiasm and more energy," Hurley said. "I can't coach them mad because we're not currently playing as well as the last two teams have played. And I think, like I said yesterday, there's been some people that have helped me kind of check, whether it is my ego, or just my approach with the team."
The Huskies, now 6-3, could ill-afford a fourth straight letdown against a notable opponent. Wednesday registered as a necessary victory -- one achieved despite an incomplete cast on both sides. Karaban sat for a second straight game as a result of being in concussion protocol after taking a hit to the head in Connecticut's loss to Dayton a week ago.
"I don't think I've had a team since I've been here, like a legitimate team that had a chance to have a season, that has probably ever needed a game more than we needed a game today," Hurley said. "It was good to be able to fight that hard and win without Alex."
On the other side, Baylor (5-3) surprisingly had to scratch its freshman wing VJ Edgecombe -- a likely future lottery pick.
"It got tight on him at shootaround," Bears coach Scott Drew told CBS Sports. "We thought he'd be good before shootaround. Obviously, can't mess with hamstrings and groins."
Then, less than four minutes into the second half, BU point guard Jeremy Roach left with a concussion, never to return. UConn losing a game at home to Baylor without the Bears having maybe their two most important players would have been a disaster. Fortunately for the Huskies, it wasn't even crisis averted, because Hurley's group didn't really have to avert much. The Huskies kept the game tilted in their favor over the final 10 minutes and outlast a Baylor team that never was able to pull together the run it needed to threaten to win.
"We had some attrition in terms of injuries with both teams, but really proud of the will, we showed a will we haven't showed this year in big spots," Hurley said, yet another quote signaling a change for the better here. "It's a big confidence builder for us."
With Karaban out, the Huskies got a team-high 17 points, plus eight rebounds and three blocks, from freshman Liam McNeeley. A good development in what was the 33rd straight nonconference home victory for Hurley's program, a streak stretching back to 2019. Thank you, Gampel.
Samson Johnson had 13 points and Solo Ball had 11 for UConn -- but the loudest nine of the night came from three 3-pointers via Saint Mary's transfer Aidan Mahaney, who hit two big-time 3s in the first half to get UConn back to within three points (21-18) then another large triple in the second half to make it 61-54, preventing Baylor from sneaking back to within one possession. Hurley and Mahaney embraced after his second trey of the first half, first with an enthusiastic headbutt, and then with a lovable shove of excitement.
"I thought Aidan Mahaney saved us today," Hurley said. "I thought his first half, those two 3s, like when we were reeling and in a bad way, you know, he gave us a lot of life and got the crowd going."
Hurley referred to Mahaney's nine-point game as "a phoenix out of the ashes" performance.
"That was important for him to have a moment like that," Hurley said.
UConn played far from a perfect game, but it did so many things so much better than what it displayed in Maui. There have been questions about point guard; Hassan Diarra had seven assists and was largely in control most of the evening. Johnson and Tarris Reed, the two bigs, played together more, including at the under-4, with Mahaney, Diarra and Ball. It was the right move to keep Baylor on the outskirts.
The Huskies won in spite of 45.7% shooting overall and 8-of-25 3-point shooting (32%). It helped that the Huskies only gave away seven turnovers. The defense is still undergoing a lot of fixes, but there was never a tightness with this team, which is a good sign of growth. This game had a lackluster start on the Huskies' side, with the home team not getting its first bucket until more than three minutes into the game. It trailed 19-8 with 12:16 to go in the first half. Then Mahaney brought the spark and things shifted.
Wednesday was the rise-from-the-ashes moment not just for Mahaney but for this team. Whether it can be the pivot point, we'll see. A lot is soon to come here; the Huskies could be the most examined team in college basketball from now until Christmas. Wednesday's win was doubly crucial because this squad has one of the toughest, if not the toughest, December schedules in the sport. With the Baylor win checked off, next up is a road game Sunday against 7-1 Texas, followed up by an affair at Madison Square Garden vs. Gonzaga, which Hurley referred to Wednesday night as maybe the best team in college basketball right now. Hosting one-loss Xavier and travelling to one-loss Butler will come after that.
"Just go out there and let it fly and play with some swagger and some confidence," Hurley said of what he's been telling this group. "These are all new people, that this is like the next wave of UConn players. And it's like, you guys just go out there and hoop and let it fly and go make big shots and make big plays and go win a big game and announce yourself that our season has started here at UConn."
With this team, this coach, this program, all it can take is one crucial win at one crucial time to alter their course for the better. It won't be long before we'll know whether Wednesday was the day the two-time reigning champs won their swagger back for keeps.
