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PHILADELPHIA — Dan Hurley knew in the offseason what Connecticut needed to emphasize if it wanted to return to the level it was when the Huskies won back-to-back championships in March Madness, just two years ago.
The Huskies, the 2 seed in the East Region of the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament, didn’t need any philosophical or schematic changes. They simply needed to get back to the backbone of the program since Hurley took it over in 2018.
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“Having elite defense is what sustains you. … We know that we’ve got to do this with our defense,” Hurley told assembled media on March 19 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“It was really just taking pride in our defense, taking pride in being who we wanted to be,” Huskies veteran forward Alex Karaban told USA TODAY Sports on March 19. “… Us returners took more pride. Coach (also) brought in some great transfers that really helped us too.”
Huskies defense can ‘win them a national championship’
The Huskies’ defensive metrics last season were well off from their 2022-23 and 2023-24 national championship seasons. They ranked 75th in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom at the end of the season, and 79th in the same metric on Bart Torvik.
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“That’s a complete aberration from really the series of these four seasons (for them),” Fox Sports’ Mike DeCourcy told USA TODAY Sports in a recent interview. “They didn’t do anything particularly well at the defensive end.”
Fast forward to now, and the Huskies defense ranks top 12 on both KenPom and Bart Torvik in adjusted defensive efficiency.
“That’s been Coach Hurley’s emphasis throughout the whole year. He wanted to be a defensive team and he knew from last year’s team the improvement that we needed,” freshman guard Braylon Mullins told USA TODAY Sports.
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A Texas Christian University Horned Frogs cheerleader practices before the game during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.
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Publish date : 2026-03-20 16:34:00
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