UConn head basketball coach Dan Hurley expects perfection. He will settle for nothing less.
That was abundantly clear during Saturday’s road game at Georgetown.
The Huskies beat the Hoyas 89-64. They shot 61.1% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc. They won the rebound battle 37-34 and had 16 more assists than their opponents.
When you look at the stat sheet, it would be easy to assume that UConn coasted to victory. While that would be true, Hurley doesn’t care about a win that required minimal effort. He doesn’t care about the scoreboard.
If his team is going to repeat as national champions, they must be flawless. Despite what the score might indicate, that was not entirely the case. The Huskies committed 17 fouls and five turnovers. Georgetown came within one point of winning the second half because of complacent defense.
Dan Hurley was furious. The 51-year-old head coach called a timeout to berate his lineup— while up by 25.
It was not a civil discussion. It was not a stern talking to. An irate Hurley went nuclear.
He could be heard saying, “we are so below our standard right now.”
Very few coaches in college basketball bring this old-school style to the modern game. In some ways, Dan Hurley is like a blast from the past. He is a lot more like Bobby Knight than, say, Matt Painter or Christ Holtmann.
UConn is the No. 1-ranked program in the country for a reason. The Huskies continue to dominant lesser opponents and grind out tough wins over other teams that are more on their level.
However, the score doesn’t matter to Dan Hurley. His team is talented enough to run it back as national champions so long as they do not get complacent. He will not allow them to do so!