After a difficult January, are the 2-time defending national champion UConn Huskies ready to roll?

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STORRS, Conn. — There might not be a team happier to see January in the rear-view mirror than two-time defending national champion UConn.

On the way to a second straight title during the 2023-24 season, not only did the Huskies go undefeated in January, but they never trailed by double digits in those eight games.

What a difference a year makes. With four starters selected in the 2024 NBA Draft and an injury sidelining talented freshman Liam McNeeley, UConn had to battle its way through every game in January. The No. 19 Huskies needed overtime to win at home against a Butler team with one Big East win. Just over a week later, the Huskies figured to have an easier team when a DePaul team that recently snapped a 39-game regular-season conference losing streak came to Connecticut. The Huskies had to overcome a 14-point deficit before winning by 11.

That game was part of a stretch when the Huskies trailed by at least 10 points four times in seven games. Even the five wins in January were a bit of a grind.

“It is stressful to play at UConn,” coach Dan Hurley said. “When you are not as good as we have been, it is uncharted territory for Alex (Karaban), Samson (Johnson), Hassan (Diarra), Solo (Ball), Jaylin (Stewart) and Jayden (Ross). They are not used to playing as many games like this, they are used to dominance. I think even the new guys — Tarris (Reed Jr.) and Aidan (Mahaney), it is a different kind of pressure when you play at a place like UConn.”

A turning point for UConn seemed to come late in the first half and the second half of the Jan. 29 game against DePaul. The Huskies used that momentum to look like a team that came into the season as one of the favorites to win the national title by winning at Marquette a few days later.

“It helped us tremendously,” Ball said. “The more we got to be together and work as one, it turned the game around. We had a big turnaround, we were down (14) in the first half and we ended up turning it around and winning by 11. The…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/difficult-january-2-time-defending-185711965.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-06 18:57:00

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