UConn barely broke a sweat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, but head coach Dan Hurley was not exactly thrilled with his team during the blowout victory.
The 1-seed Huskies came out firing in the first half of their game against 16-seed Stetson. UConn had an absurd 46-10 lead about 17 minutes in, but the Hatters managed to cut into that a bit with some shots late in the half.
Even with his team leading 52-19 going into halftime, Hurley was frustrated. He told CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson that UConn did not play “championship level” at the end of the first half.
.@UConnMBB with the lead!
Coach Dan Hurley speaks with @tracywolfson after the end of the first half. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/pYINciEAhy
— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 22, 2024
“Everything should be automatic this time of year. You know, defensively, it’s human nature I guess, but just to throttle down right like that late, that’s not championship level,” Hurley said. “In this tournament if you don’t keep everything at the absolute highest level, like automatic every possession, things go bad for you in this tournament. We gotta grow up a little bit. The last couple minutes, I didn’t like.”
You would have sworn UConn was having a tough time with the 16-seed with the way Hurley spoke. That is the type of interview we saw countless times from Nick Saban when Alabama was blowing out an opponent, and the approach clearly worked for him.
UConn went on to win 91-52. They are a heavy favorite to repeat as national champions after their dominant run a year ago, which is likely why Hurley is trying to manage egos.
