Jahmyl Telfort, who scored nine of the Bulldogs’ 10 points in the second half, cut their deficit to two with 10 seconds to go but his game-winning attempt hit off the top of the backboard as the final buzzer sounded.

The 80-78 victory helped the No. 19 Huskies improve to 14-5 on the year and 6-2 in Big East play. It was their ninth game this season decided by five points or less, and their fifth victory in such games.

UConn is now 11-0 in its all-time series against Butler (8-11, 1-7 Big East).

Ball, who made a 3-pointer that felt like a knockout blow with 1:39 on the clock in overtime and then missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Telfort another shot at the end, finished with a career-high 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Alex Karaban scored five of his 19 points in overtime and added seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

Centers Samson Johnson and Reed scored 14 points a piece.

Five minutes in, Reed, who was challenged by Dan Hurley after a stretch of rough outings, ripped away an offensive rebound and scored a layup, igniting the crowd and elating his coach, who ran over and embraced Aidan Mahaney at the scorer’s table. On the defensive end, Karaban swatted a 3-point attempt from Patrick McCaffery and passed ahead to Ball for a layup in transition, prompting Hurley to smack the scorer’s table in celebration.

That series, which put the Huskies up by nine less than six minutes in, set the tone for most of the first half.

Ball scored 15 points in the opening period, knocking down 3 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc. He rebounded a couple of his own misses and was able to salvage those possessions with points, as well. UConn continued to show off its transition offense, forcing three turnovers in a two-minute span and capitalizing to grow the lead to 15 with four and a half minutes until the break.

The Huskies didn’t make another field goal for the rest of the half and allowed a 9-0 Butler run, but Ball got to the line after a second-chance layup attempt to send UConn into the break with a 39-31 advantage.

In an inspired defensive effort early, UConn blocked seven shots in the first half and held the Bulldogs to 40.7% shooting from the field.

Butler’s Jahmyl Telfort denied any opportunity for the Huskies to pull away through much of the second half, powering to the rim as he scored 10 points after the break. He cut UConn’s lead to four around the eight-minute mark, but Jayden Ross finished a tough layup through contact and Ball nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the night to bring the Huskies’ advantage back to nine.

But UConn’s defense slipped from the first half. In another three-minute offensive slump, the Huskies got sloppy and let Butler back into it again. The Bulldogs took advantage of the miscues and put together an 11-1 scoring run, giving them their first lead of the game after a 3-pointer and a layup from Finley Bizjack (17 points) with four minutes to go.

The Bulldogs didn’t make another shot from the field in regulation but got enough from the free throw line to have the score tied in the final seconds. Hassan Diarra, who missed a desperation shot on what appeared to be UConn’s final possession, stole Butler’s inbound pass with 2.5 seconds left in regulation and came inches away from nailing a half court heave for the win.

UConn is back on the road this weekend, meeting Xavier in Cincinnati for an 8 p.m. tip on Saturday. The Musketeers took the Huskies to overtime at the XL Center when they met on Dec. 18, a 94-89 UConn win.

But Dan Hurley, increasingly frustrated with his team’s lack of will and intensity, remains optimistic that the return of the star freshman can bandage some of his team’s exposed wounds.

Hurley said he saw hints of “vintage UConn basketball” in the game against Georgetown on Jan. 11, where defensive stops and transition offense helped build a lead of as many as 23 points in the second half. But that lead dissipated and the Huskies didn’t show the same fight when they returned home after a week without games and lost to Creighton.

“We haven’t been able to get there just because of the defensive end of the court and your ability to, across the board, rebound the ball,” Hurley said Monday night. “I think that’s why it’s so frustrating. Because it’s such a big season for us, too, and to not be where you want to be because you didn’t play with the life or death urgency that you need to in such an important year, it’s frustrating.”

The buzz before the year, part of the reason both Hurley and captain Alex Karaban turned down the NBA to stay in Storrs, surrounded the unique opportunity to compete for a third national championship in a row.

The word “three-peat” hasn’t been used very much lately.

“I got a lot going on in my mind right now. I’m thinking about a lot of things,” Hurley said, speaking candidly to local reporters before the team took over the press room at the XL Center for another film session before Tuesday’s game against Butler. “Has the success softened us? Has my intensity dropped? Have I lost my edge? Have we gotten soft with our success and feel entitled to it, and don’t have the will to earn it? We do have a lot of people though that haven’t won championships with us or weren’t integral parts of our championships, so I don’t know…”

Can a freshman be counted on to fix that? Can McNeeley be the magical sealant that, with one coat, can make a screen door float above water?

He will certainly help.

McNeeley was the Huskies’ second-leading scorer when he went down on New Year’s Day against DePaul. He was the team’s second-leading rebounder and was improving as a defender, two areas of which the team is in desperate need. McNeeley also played with a fire and an intensity, like Cam Spencer, that Hurley has been searching for.

The one-and-done type prospect “moved around” to test what movement felt like on his ankle during Monday’s practice, though his status hasn’t changed. Hurley’s initial hope was to have McNeeley back toward the end of January, before the team faces a February gauntlet with two games against both No. 10 Marquette and No. 20 St. John’s, as well as a road trip to Creighton, where the program has never won.

“His absence has affected multiple players negatively,” Hurley said.

A player like veteran point guard Hassan Diarra, who started the season coming off the bench, has logged too many minutes and has been drained by the end of games. Production from the center position has suffered, too, without a player like McNeeley drawing some of the attention in the paint and creating opportunities for easy buckets.

McNeeley’s absence takes away a lot of the lineup flexibility that had been so valuable to UConn’s last two national championship teams.

Solo Ball has been a tough player to take off the court with his offensive production, which has proven absolutely critical in keeping the Huskies among the top 10 most efficient offensive teams in the nation. But he’s been exposed, targeted, on the defensive end.

“With Liam in there, it would give you more flexibility to put in a defensive-minded guy if someone was struggling on the perimeter defensively. But with Liam out, obviously you need Solo’s offense, you need Alex’s offense and then obviously you need a point guard and yeah, you could afford to have another guy out there that maybe isn’t a great offensive player but brings intangibles and things like that with one of the centers,” Hurley said.

Ball, shooting 44.6% from beyond the arc, 19-for-36 (52.8%) since he made seven 3s at DePaul, entered Tuesday’s game ranked 18th among qualified Division I shooters in 3-point percentage.

“For guys like Jordan Hawkins, sophomore year I think as we got into like this point in the year, he really became sturdy defensively. I just think that Solo’s got great intentions, it’s not like one of those guys that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m a bucket and I’m one of the best shooters in the country, screw you guys.’ That’s not it with him,” Hurley said. “He feels the stress, the pressure to become a better defensive player for our team and it bothers him as much as any of the coach when he has defensive struggles. But it’s literally at every position. It’s well beyond Solo.”

UConn was projected as a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s early March Madness bracketology for ESPN, which was released Tuesday morning. In his projection, the Huskies would still have a favorable path of playing the first two rounds in Providence and then, should they advance to the second weekend, making another short trip to Newark, New Jersey.

Right now, the Huskies have a good enough offense to make a run. But the defensive end is what determines this team’s ceiling.

“I think just our defense, our rebounding and our overall toughness, we’ve become a finesse offensive team that runs a lot of good stuff on offense, but we’ve got to get our toughness back,” Hurley said.

How do you do that?

“That’s a tough one,” he said, stumped at the question that’s surely been asked dozens of times in coaches’ meetings.

“You do it with honesty, you do it with evidence, you do it with video. You’re told that with modern athletes or kids these days you have to be careful with how you talk to them, you know? But here, we go with honesty. We go with accountability. We go with, ‘Here’s what the film says, here’s what the numbers say. When you’re on the court with us, here’s your role in how we’re failing defensively,'” Hurley said. “Obviously you’ve spent a lot of time, too, trying to think if there’s a scheme change you could make defensively. But the way we’ve guarded has been really effective for a long time.”

It was the program’s first loss in Connecticut in nearly two years as its 28-game home winning streak came to an end.

One of those close wins came at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Dec. 21, when Butler cut down an 11-point deficit midway through the second half and fought back to get within two in the final seconds, but couldn’t overcome Alex Karaban‘s clutch shooting in a 78-74 Huskies’ victory.

Karaban has been up-and-down since, notably scoring eight points on just 3-for-12 shooting as the streak of nearly two calendar years came to an end on Saturday. He tweaked his ankle in the second half of the game and will be a game time decision, coach Dan Hurley said, on Tuesday.

“He didn’t practice (Monday), but he shot, so we’ll see how he feels with that ankle,” Hurley said. “It’s a sprain, I don’t think it’s as bad as the one he had last year against Providence, where he didn’t play in the St. John’s game at MSG.”

Tuesday’s game will be UConn’s fifth without standout freshman Liam McNeeley, who scored 17 points with five rebounds and seven assists in the first matchup against the Bulldogs. His absence has been critical as the Huskies continue to struggle on the defensive end, on both backboards and with their tenaciousness, which Hurley called out over the weekend.

Dom Amore: For Dan Hurley’s Huskies, the grace period has expired. It’s time for tenacity

“We’ve given up close to 47% from the field in Big East or high-major games this year. Our past teams, those numbers, even years when we had early exits in the tournament, we were holding people to 40% from the field,” Hurley said. “I think just our defense, our rebounding and our overall toughness, we’ve become a finesse offensive team that runs a lot of good stuff on offense, but we’ve got to get our toughness back… (Liam) will fix a lot of our issues when he gets back, but our defense overall, you’re not going anywhere doing that. You can’t compete for anything when you’re 126th.”

UConn, which is ranked No. 7 on offense and No. 127 on defense by KenPom, has never lost to Butler in the 10-game all-time series between the programs, which met for the first time in the 2011 national championship game.

The December loss for Butler came in the middle of a nine-game losing skid, which ended Wednesday as the Bulldogs claimed their first Big East win of the year against Seton Hall. They’ll come into the XL Center on Tuesday after six days without games.

It was the Bulldogs’ frontcourt that gave UConn the most trouble in their previous matchup, as 6-foot-9 forward Patrick McCaffery and 7-foot-1 center Andre Screen scored 17 points a piece. Screen grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots as Butler claimed a 32-31 advantage on the glass – one of four times UConn has been outrebounded in its six Big East matchups. The last three have come in four games without McNeeley, who was the team’s second-leading rebounder when he went down.

Hurley will look for a bounce back game from Tarris Reed Jr. – one of the players who possesses the “nice guy” trait that he is trying to weed out – after he fouled out with just seven points in the previous matchup against Butler. Reed was minus-17 in 16 scoreless minutes on Saturday.

“We’ve got to play better across the board, especially the center spot,” Hurley said, reiterating that Reed needs to play with more force and ferocity. “(Butler is) hard to guard, with (Pierre) Brooks and (Jahmyl Telfort), McCaffery, it tells you just how hard it is to still win Big East games, no matter what the NET says, no matter what the KenPom says or any of the analytics. It’s a tough league to win games in, especially if you look at some of the firepower that they’ve got at the wing there and two pretty good centers and good guard play – and a great coach in Thad (Matta).

“It’s gonna be a hard game for us. We’re gonna be coming in banged up, short rest – they’ve had a week off – and we’re gonna need a great crowd and a real pick-me-up from playing in XL after the haunting experience at Gampel the other day… In an instance where you just lost one at one place, I kind of like the fact that I’m going to my other place.”

As the team continues to find its identity, more will and force across the board, those close games will persist. For now, especially if Karaban joins McNeeley in street clothes, the Huskies just need to find a way to win.

“These games are tougher, they’re grittier, it’s good to be a part of. It’s fun. You want to be in close games, you want to be in these Big East battles,” fifth-year point guard Hassan Diarra said. “We have to continue to do the right things so we can come out on the right side of them.”

UConn announces plan for Coaches vs. Cancer

Dan Hurley’s wife, Andrea, will again lead her memorial button initiative as the Huskies host their annual Coaches vs. Cancer game on Jan. 29 against DePaul. Fans will be able to find Andrea at a table on the XL Center concourse near section 124 when the doors open at 6:30, where they will be able to have a printed out photo (3″ or smaller) turned into a memorial button. Fans can also pre-submit photos by email at UConnHuskies.com/CvC. Cancer awareness ribbons will also be available at the table for fans to wear.

New this season, doctors from the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health will be set up on the concourse to offer free cancer screenings and education, as well as skin cancer checks prior to the game in the atrium. Patients from the Connecticut Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders will be honored on the court during the game.

What to know

Site: XL Center, Hartford.

Time: 7 p.m.

Records: No. 19 UConn: 13-5 (5-2 Big East), Butler: 8-10 (1-6)

Series: UConn leads, 10-0.

Last meeting: Dec. 21, 2024 – No. 11 UConn 78, Butler 74 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

TV: FS1 – Jason Benetti, Bill Raftery

Radio: Fox Sports 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman

Pregame reading:

• Dom Amore: For Dan Hurley’s Huskies, the grace period has expired. It’s time for tenacity
• UConn men’s basketball drops to No. 19 in AP Poll following second loss in three games
• UConn men’s basketball notes: Consistency is key for Jaylin Stewart as Huskies await McNeeley’s return
• UConn commit Darius Adams fits the mold of a future Husky, shows potential at Hoophall Classic

The athletic 6-6 guard isn’t necessarily known for dunking, but he can throw down– having officially rocked the rim 25 times this season.

Castle has impressed in his rookie season, averaging 11.6 points, 3.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds and shooting 40 percent from the field. He’s started 23 of the Spurs’ 41 games.

San Antonio made Castle the fourth overall pick in the NBA Draft last June after the former Husky helped lead UConn to a second straight national title in his one and only season in college.

The Slam Dunk contest is one of the NBA’s most popular events during All-Star weekend, but it has lost some of its shine in recent years. Some of the game’s greatest-ever players have participated, including Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter, but increasingly the contest has been reserved for young, up-and-coming players.

Mac McClung, who’s played just a handful of NBA games and has spent most of his four-year career in the NBA G League, won the event each of the past two years. Recent winners also include Obi Toppin, Anfernee Simons and Hamidou Diallo.

The Slam Dunk contest is set for Saturday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

The Huskies are 2-2 since losing standout freshman Liam McNeeley to a high ankle sprain on New Year’s Day, and his absence proved critical as the team failed to get over the hump down the stretch against the Bluejays. Coach Dan Hurley sent a message to his players through the media after the game as he called for “tenacity” both on the defensive end and on the backboards, again calling out his group of “swell guys” after they couldn’t find a way to get the win.

Designated as a Quad 3 loss, the team’s third of the season, UConn fell to No. 32 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Continuing to struggle on the defensive end, where Hurley said “the bar is so low,” UConn enters Week 12 ranked No. 30 by KenPom’s efficiency metrics, where its offense is ranked No. 7 and its defense No. 128.

The AP voters ranked UConn just above St. John’s, which reentered the Top 25 at No. 20 this week, giving the Big East three ranked teams for the first time since Week 4. Marquette, which suffered a two-point loss at home to Xavier on Saturday, came in at No. 10 with its 15-3 overall record.

The Johnnies and the Golden Eagles are the only two Big East teams with only one loss in league play.

Auburn, at 17-1, held onto its top spot in the AP Poll after receiving all 62 first place votes. Duke and Iowa State flipped spots at No. 2 and 3, respectively, after the Cyclones suffered their second loss of the year at West Virginia. Alabama and Florida held in their spots to round out the top five.

Of UConn’s nonconference opponents, Memphis was the only team to remain ranked as it fell to No. 24. Both Gonzaga and Baylor dropped into the receiving votes category.

AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Week 12

1. Auburn (62 first place votes)
2. Duke
3. Iowa State
4. Alabama
5. Florida
6. Tennessee
7. Houston
8. Michigan State
9. Kentucky
10. Marquette
11. Purdue
12. Kansas
13. Texas A&M
14. Mississippi State
15. Oregon
16. Ole Miss
17. Illinois
18. Wisconsin
19. UConn
20. St. John’s
21. Michigan
22. Missouri
23. West Virginia
24. Memphis
25. Louisville

Several of those who did stick around were wearing UConn gear, excited to get an early look at the future Husky. Associate Head Coach Kimani Young sat courtside and, after halftime, was all alone in his spot directly across from the La Lumiere bench.

Adams got going early, scoring four of his team’s 11 points in the first quarter. But he didn’t find the bottom of the net again until the last two minutes of the third, when a straight-on 3-pointer fell through in front of his future coach. He exhaled in relief and got back on defense.

Adams finished with nine points on 4-for-15 shooting in a loss to nationally-ranked Wasatch Academy, 63-54. That 3-pointer was his only make on six attempts from deep.

“I’m hard on myself, so I feel like I didn’t play very well,” Adams said.

Don’t fret. Stephon Castle went 6-for-20 from the field when he played in front of UConn coaches at the Hoophall Classic his senior year. He was named a McDonald’s All-American, then Big East Freshman of the Year and a national champion before being selected fourth overall in the NBA Draft.

And Adams, the 23rd-ranked player in the 2025 class who took official visits to NC State, Tennessee and Michigan State before choosing the Huskies, is known to be a viable offensive player.

“I would say that, defense won’t get me off the court, I won’t be a liability. But I think what’s gonna get me on the court is just hard work, being able to make an open shot and make the right reads,” Adams said.

With two minutes and 19 seconds left in Saturday’s game, Adams went down in pain. He limped off the court after being stretched out by the team trainer, the game already looked lost and it appeared his day was done. But, with 44 seconds left, Adams went to the scorer’s table and checked back in.

“(Cramps) in both of my calves,” he said after. “I’m a competitor, I wanted to be in there with my teammates to the end. So it just didn’t feel right (to stay out when) I could’ve went back in. I had enough in me.”

He sprinted the length of the court for a layup after returning.

“I think (Dan Hurley) is gonna be able to bring more dog out of me,” he said. “So I’m excited for that, I’m excited to be in the program. I’m excited to work. … Definitely getting stronger, that’s my No. 1 priority, my body. And then just getting my handle tighter, being stronger with the ball, all those kind of things.”

At 6-foot-5, Adams fits the mold of what UConn has had in its national championship-winning backcourt the last two years.

“He’s got that size that we love at guard, the combo guard skills,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said Friday. “That guy can play in the ball screen, can really shoot the 3, he can get his own shot, he’s got the length and the size to guard multiple positions. When you look at those guards we’ve had, versatile type of guards that can do a lot of different things: Andre Jackson or Jordan Hawkins, Steph Castle or Tristen Newton, Cam – Cam’s 6-3, he’s not 6-5, but he’s still a bigger guard. Those bigger guards that have the size to throw those lobs that we’re accustomed to.”

La Lumiere coach Pat Holmes echoed the same sentiment: “He’ll be great playing (UConn’s) offense, coming off a bunch of different screening actions, get open shots and, as his game continues to progress and evolve, being a playmaker off the bounce which he’s been doing for us. But (he’s) a guy who plays hard, can make shots and is just a guy who’s going to grow within their system.”

Adams is one of three members of UConn’s 2025 recruiting class who were nominated to be McDonald’s All-Americans this year, joining five-star guard Braylon Mullins and four-star center Eric Reibe.

The class, which also includes highly-touted Australian guard, Jacob Furphy, is ranked third-best in all of Division I by 247Sports as UConn reloads after having six players selected in the last two NBA Drafts.

“For (Adams), it’s about getting stronger and just continuing to stay hungry, because he’s a highly-ranked player, he’s got a great shot at the McDonald’s (All-American) game, he’s one of the best players in the country,” Hurley said. “And I think one of the biggest things that hurts young people today is the accolades they get before they get to college and before they get to the NBA.”

“Once you lose that hunger as a young player… Like, you haven’t made (expletive) yet. You haven’t made it until you probably signed your second or third contract in the NBA. But he comes from a great basketball family and a great sports family, a couple old school parents, so we got a great one there.”

UConn is 2-2 in its four Big East games since McNeeley went down with a high ankle sprain on New Year’s Day. Some players, like Jaylin Stewart, have shown how they can step up and contribute. But it hasn’t been consistent.

Stewart broke into the starting lineup and scored 14 points in the loss at Villanova. He was scoreless in the next game at Georgetown, then scored 14 again on Saturday afternoon.

“If we could find enough ways to win games while Liam is out and not get totally demoralized like that January a couple years back… When we reinsert him into the lineup, I mean he’s one of the best players in the league. And on a team that needs its best players on the court, he would make a huge difference,” Hurley said.

“We’ve got to find a way just to try to win enough of these games, just gut these games out until he gets back. And then just hope we can get some consistency from Jaylin Stewart. He’s had these 14-point games that he’s followed up with zero. He’s got to stay consistent.”

Dom Amore: For Dan Hurley’s Huskies, the grace period has expired. It’s time for tenacity

Stewart, a sophomore, has scored in double figures six times over his young college career. But never twice in a row.

“It all just starts in practice with preparation, just holding myself accountable for every little thing and just give it my all every day. On and off the court, just gotta have that professionalism about us,” Stewart said.

Lacking in aura

Over the last two years, there was an intimidation factor that UConn brought when it took the court. Hurley said Saturday he’s worried the program might’ve lost it.

“My fear is that we’re such a weak, kind of a soft team and the other teams that take the court with us, we’ve lost that aura that we’ve had when we’ve taken the court the last couple of years,” he said. “Where they see a little bit of it on film when they prepare for us and say, ‘These guys aren’t as vicious and nasty,’ and then they share the court with us and they feel it as well. That’s becoming a problem.”…

…Hurley didn’t have an update on Alex Karaban‘s ankle after he tweaked it in the second half. Karaban gave his coach a thumbs up and finished out the game with a small limp. … The loss was UConn’s first at home since Jan. 25, 2023, ending a 28-game winning streak between the XL Center and Gampel Pavilion. … Solo Ball scored 15 points, marking his fifth consecutive game with 15 points or more. He’s made 19 3-pointers during that five-game stretch. … Samson Johnson gave Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner problems on the defensive end and finished a team-best plus-12 in his 24 minutes. … Jamiya Neal, who torched the Huskies for 24 points Saturday, played his first three college seasons for Bobby Hurley at Arizona State.

For this year’s UConn men’s basketball team, after the back to back championships, that has meant alternating periods of fire and grace. Fire at the start, when talk of the three-peat was everywhere, grace ice after three losses on Maui in November.

After the Huskies lost 68-63 to Creighton on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion, UConn’s first home-court loss in nearly two full years, coach Dan Hurley indicated the “grace period” was over, and he would be bringing the fire again. Somehow he managed to get the word “tenacity” in about half a dozen sentences in a row.

UConn men’s 28-game home winning streak snapped in 68-63 loss to Creighton

“We’re not who we’ve been,” Hurley said “I’m not sure that Liam (McNeeley), when he returns (from his injury) is going to be able to fix the lack of tenacity that we have right now. As a program, we’re a shell of ourselves. The bar is so low for us defensively. We’re just not a tenacious team.”

After the Maui Invitational, Hurley re-examined and determined he need to “have some grace,” and not expect the 2024-25 team to live up to the standard set by its two predecessors immediately. He wanted to “tame the monster” he created with sky-high expectations.

UConn responded with seven wins in a row, several quality wins. But losses to Villanova and Creighton in the last three Big East games, close as the games were and despite the absence of McNeeley, has dropped the Huskies in national stature and prompted the coach change messaging again.

“Our home winning streak at home goes out the window,” he said. “But this team wasn’t responsible for those long winning streaks. The tenacious teams that were elite defensively, elite rebounding teams, playing with incredible passion and intensity, those were the teams that built that winning streak.”

It’s certainly possible that this UConn team (13-5, 5-2 in the Big East) is just not as talented or experienced as the last two teams, with six of those players now in the NBA. That can’t be fixed or coached, necessarily. Tenacity can, to an extent, be drawn out of a group, as long as a coach believes it’s in there. Creighton’s Jamiya Neal (24 points on 10 for 16 shooting) and Isaac Troudt (11) burned the Huskies, who were focusing their defense on Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth. Creighton shot 47.9 percent, 55 percent in the second half, efficiency that would’ve been unfathomable against the previous two UConn teams, though they actually split their four games against the always formidable Bluejays.

“It’s a lack of will,” Hurley said. “They’re great guys, I mean these guys are great. They’re awesome on campus, on airplanes, in the restaurants, which is great, that’s what you want to be. But when you take the court, a switch has to flip and you have to become a maniacal, ruthless, relentless, warrior, competitor, life-or-death urgency to rebound the ball and win loose balls. It’s about being a warrior, like an incredible competitor.”

Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: CT Sun staying put, but charting new course into WNBA future; On Titans’ Will Levis, Coach K’s bold idea and more

Not enough hot-button words for you? There’s a “soft” on the horizon.

“There’s a hunger you have to have when you take the court,” Hurley said. “There is the wild desire you have to have. … That’s not who we’ve been. Teams that are top-five offense and aren’t a good rebounding team and are not a good defensive team, they’re soft teams. They’re not tough teams. Maybe for me, I’ll dial my intensity up even more in practice, I’ll bring more fire to the sidelines. This team just doesn’t reflect who we have been. We haven’t been able to turn these talented, nice guys into fierce, savage competitors.”

Dom Amore: Hassan Diarra, Dan Hurley and the relationship that fired a UConn comeback

If he wanted, Hurley could have leaned more heavily on how much the Huskies miss McNeeley, who certainly would change the rebounding, which went Creighton’s way 28-25. Or he could have gone after the refs, since the Bluejays took 15 free throws to UConn’s five, and what looked like a shooting foul behind the arc was called differently in the final seconds, so Hassan Diarra took no free throws instead of a potentially game-tying three.

Instead, Hurley noted he was angry in the moment, but was not laying this loss on officiating. He even noted how good the officiating has been, you know, “stateside.” He was channeling all his displeasure with the players he has on the court now, trying to pierce their pride by telling comparing them, unfavorably, to the champions. When the Huskies, who have looked just as vulnerable in some of the games they’ve won, play Butler at the XL Center on Tuesday night, we’ll see if Hurley wears his tenacity on his sleeve and how his players respond. History tells us Hurley’s is a pretty good athletic trainer for the matters of the psyche.

“He’s absolute right,” said Diarra, who played on those two championship teams. “Top down, we just haven’t been able to do the hard things well, rebounding the ball, defensively guarding the ball, digging loose balls out.”

Diarra, who played over 37 minutes, with 15 points, seven assists and no turnovers, acquitted himself well. Alex Karaban, who twisted an ankle during the game, was 3 for 12 and big men Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr. were not big factors.

“We need to do a better job as leaders of the team,” Diarra said, “being a great example each and every day, trying to get guys to understand how hard it is to win a game in the Big East, how hard it is to win a game in college. We have to understand that and attack it.”

So the grind of the conference season goes on, and the Huskies will see a pivot in tone, feel it, too. No more grace, no more, you guessed it, Mr. Nice Guys.

Dom Amore: Maybe it hasn’t been on script, but Paige Bueckers, on brink of 2,000 points, has fashioned a tale of her own at UConn

UConn coach Dan Hurley argued the foul in the moment but got over it quickly. In his postgame press conference, officiating was far down his list of concerns.

“Just the theme of our season, obviously we’re not who we’ve been,” Hurley said. “I’m not sure if Liam (McNeeley), when he returns, is going to be able to fix the lack of tenacity that we have right now. Coaches and players, as a program we’re a shell of ourselves from a defensive standpoint. We’ve only won the rebound battle twice in Big East games and the bar is so low for us defensively. We’re just not a tenacious enough team.”

The loss was UConn’s first at home since Jan. 25, 2023 against Xavier, snapping a 28-game home winning streak in a span that featured two national championships. UConn (13-5, 5-2 Big East) is now just 2-8 in its all-time series with the Bluejays.

Creighton’s Jamiya Neal, who came into the game averaging 10.2 points and finished with 24 on 10-of-16 shooting, played a heavy role in taking down the reigning champs as his fifth-year teammates Ryan Kalkbrenner (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Steven Ashworth (12 points, six rebounds, nine assists) drew most of the attention.

“How did we let a dominant righty driver, a guy that loves to go right, just continue to drive the ball right?” Hurley said. “It’s a lack of attention to detail, and it’s a lack of will.”

The Huskies did a decent job on both Kalkbrenner and Ashworth in the first half, holding the veteran duo to just nine points combined on 3-for-11 shooting. But Neal only missed one of his eight shots from the field before the break, single-handedly erasing the early 10-2 UConn advantage bolstered by a pair of Solo Ball 3-pointers.

Ball finished tied for the team-high in scoring with 15 points. Diarra had 15 as well, adding seven rebounds and six assists, a block and a steal. Jaylin Stewart, in the starting lineup for the third time in four games with McNeeley out, scored eight of his 14 points in the second half.

Creighton led for nearly 29 minutes in the game, never by more than eight, and Stewart helped give the Huskies a chance late with a floater that made it a one-point game with 1:12 left. But, on an off night for Karaban (8 points, 3-for-12), UConn ultimately didn’t have enough to overcome the Bluejays, who improved to 12-6 on the year and 5-2 in the Big East.

Karaban had just three shot attempts in a scoreless first half.

“Alex, he should not have taken three shots at halftime. He should’ve taken 16 to 18 shots in this game today. Even with Kalkbrenner in that deep drop, those floaters and those short touch shots at the (Big East) logo were available for him even when they were chasing him over top of the pins,” Hurley said. “He’s just got to fire away in these games. He should’ve went 5-for-17 today, just have no regrets about just letting it rip.”

The three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Kalkbrenner disrupted the Huskies’ offense in a major way despite only being credited for two blocks. Because of his reliability inside, Creighton could guard the perimeter the way UConn did last season with Donovan Clingan. As a result, the Huskies only attempted six 3-pointers in the first half and had to attack the long-armed 7-footer.

It worked for a short stretch, as Aidan Mahaney, Stewart and Ball each finished inside to retake the lead with five minutes until the halftime break. But Creighton answered with a 10-2 run to go into the break up by seven.

“We’ve shown tons of vulnerabilities that our past teams have not shown,” Hurley said.

Neal scored the first points of the second half with a layup over Stewart, but Ball answered with his third triple of the afternoon and Samson Johnson (seven points, three rebounds, five assists) rose up for a two-handed slam over Kalkbrenner, drawing a foul in the process. Karaban tweaked his ankle but insisted on staying in the game with a limp and scored his first basket to tie the score at 41 immediately after he was helped to his feet. He made a pair of free throws on the next possession to give the Huskies their first lead since Ball’s floater at the five-minute mark in the first half.

Creighton had an answer for every UConn run. The Bluejays – shooting 55% from the field in the second half to UConn’s 41.9% – answered Karaban’s burst with a 14-5 scoring run. Diarra scored all five of the Huskies’ points during that stretch with a 3-pointer and a transition layup.

Just as it felt the game might be over, the graduate guard blocked a layup attempt from Neal and found Stewart in the corner for three. Ball made a pair of shots inside and Johnson gave the Huskies a one-point lead from the free throw line with three and a half minutes to go. Creighton didn’t make another shot from the field for the rest of the game, but sealed the victory with Ashworth and Kalkbrenner at the free throw line.

“(Hurley) is absolutely right,” Diarra said. “We just haven’t been able to do the hard things well. Rebounding the ball, on the defensive end guarding the ball, getting loose balls – we just haven’t been able to do so.”

UConn will return to action and look to “find a way” when it hosts Butler at the XL Center on Tuesday (7 p.m., FS1).

Add history as one of its most formidable opponents. If you’re conversant in sports history, you know the NFL began as league of Midwest factory towns. One by one, Canton, Akron, Decatur and the others were abandoned until only Green Bay, and the community-owned Packers, remain as a link to those roots. The NBA, once it took flight, left cities like Fort Wayne and Syracuse. And don’t get us started on the NHL and Hartford.

Connecticut Sun enter new era in 2025 with introduction of head coach Rachid Meziane

When the Mohegan Sun brought the Orlando franchise to Connecticut in 2003, it was an ideal fit for The W. Maybe this isn’t a big market, but it is a women’s basketball hotbed. Now, as the WNBA expands, grows in popularity, seeks greater TV revenue, there is bound to be some sentiment from the league, and the players union, that it has outgrown the CT franchise and needs to move into a bigger market. Since the Sun played a game in Boston last year, a sellout at TD Garden, and made plans to play one of Caitlin Clark’s games vs. the Sun there next season, it’s natural to wonder if it’s a precursor to a removal of the franchise.

“We are here, this is where we want to be, so I wish people would put those rumors to bed,” said Beth Regan, chairwoman and justice of the Mohegan Tribal Council of Elders.

So the Sun are re-inventing themselves one more time, shuffling the front office to name former UConn star Morgan Tuck GM and hiring Rachid Meziane from France as head coach to blend EuroBasket with The W. With only three players currently under contract, the Sun, who have made the WNBA semifinals six years in a row, the finals twice, will look very different next spring, in personnel and style.

“There’s always optimism when you start a new chapter,” said Sun president Jen Rizzotti, the former UConn star. “There is no way to predict the future, but based on our success in the past and what we felt Rachid could bring our organization, adjustment wise, what our flow looks like, we felt he was the right fit for a team that’s been so close.”

The Sun have had success because coaches and GMs past and present, like Mike Thibault, Curt Miller, Stephanie White, Darius Taylor, now chief basketball strategist, and Tuck have stayed ahead of the curve in drafting and trading for players. The Sun have been modest players in the free agent market, and have had to trade their share of stars because of their desire to play in a bigger market, with more to do, more off-the-court revenue opportunities.

“We’ve been able to identify players that are interested in being part of a winning culture and maybe a little less interested in being a part of the things off the court that so many players nowadays feel are important,” Rizzotti said. “We’re looking for the blue-collar, underdog, hard-working personalities.”

This offseason will be a test to find out how many of those kinds of players are still out there. “This generation’s a little bit different,” Rizzotti said, “but there are differences in what a 22-year-old feels and what a 27-year old feels, or in players who have had that (big market) experience and it wasn’t what they were looking for.”

One of the biggest bones of contention in recent years has been the Sun’s practice digs at the Mohegan Tribal Community and Government Center, which they sometimes have to share with outside events — even in preparing for playoff games. The Indiana Fever announced Thursday it will build a $78 million performance center in downtown Indianapolis, next to its arena.

The Mohegan Tribe has acknowledged the need to upgrade facilities, but there are no plans to report as of yet, said Joseph M. Soper, Tribal Government Council corresponding secretary, a key figure in Mohegan Sun’s sports and entertainment realm.

“We understand where the infrastructure needs are going,” Soper said. “Especially as the league grows and develops, it’s something we’re always continuing to explore. We’re aware. We’ve always been committed to trying to provide what is right and what the team needs to be successful.”

Connecticut Sun take step toward becoming ‘New England’s team’ with first-ever TD Garden game

The idea of playing games in Boston came from the Sun, which was the first WNBA team to turn a profit on its own in 2010. The franchise is not for sale, but is looking to expose the WNBA to fans in Boston and perhaps interest some to travel to the casino and take in a game. The game against Los Angeles drew 19,103 to TD Garden last Aug. 20.

“Yes, we are a Connecticut team, but we really are New England’s team,” Soper said. “In the past, I don’t think we would have had the financial success to do it. You could see the excitement and anticipation of where the league was going, we felt it was the right opportunity.”

It could be considered, Tribal leaders say, that selected games with the potential to draw more than the 10,000 Mohegan Sun Arena holds could be played in Hartford, once the XL Center is renovated. The Sun averaged 8,450 last season, ninth among 12 teams.

As the Sun put together a new roster for 2025, almost from scratch, Meziane will be offering free agents something different, a re-imagined Sun. “This new trend of that position-less, everyone-can-shoot, everyone has those kind of premier skills,” Tuck said. “As a player, that’s a little more enjoyable, more free-flowing, you’re reading and reacting.”

As a coach in the Euro League with France and leader of the fourth-place Belgian team in the Paris Olympics, Meziane is looking to play what some call “beautiful basketball,” and many modern players who have overseas experience could be drawn to it. This is the latest plan for a small-market franchise that, historically, is a can-do organization.

“The W has a lot of physicality,” Meziane said. “In Europe, we have less physicality, so we have to play smartly, have a high basketball IQ, move the ball, less isolations, less one-on-one. We have unselfish play in Europe. I think we can mix this, combine high-IQ basketball with physicality and this combination can make something very nice, very exciting for our fans to watch. You saw in the last Olympic games, European teams can compete with Team USA, so it’s very smart for NBA and WNBA coaches to analyze what’s happening in Europe.”

More for your Sunday Read:

Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Fascinating tale of a UConn men’s basketball walk-on; the selfless Caroline Ducharme and more

Still a way for Will?

Now that the Titans, who finished 3-14, have secured the No.1 pick in the draft, quarterback Will Levis, the Xavier-Middletown grad and 33rd overall pick in the 2023 draft, faces an uncertain future there.

Levis completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 2,091 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, a quarterback rating of 81.2, near the bottom of NFL regulars. He missed time with a shoulder injury and was benched for a couple of games late in the season.

“All I can do is work this offseason on those areas of my game and come back here and show them I can be a franchise quarterback,” Levis told reporters in Nashville last week. “I truly believe with the ball I put on tape, and my body of work as a whole this season, I know and people who know ball, I think, can see that I can do it. I want to be a starter, I know I have what it takes, hoping to show I can continue to be a starter in this league.”

After the last game, Levis said he wanted to “be the quarterback of this team for the rest of my career.” If he does move to a new team, Levis would have some history on his side. There are many examples, most recently Sam Darnold in Minnesota, of young quarterbacks failing with their original team, but coming into their own later on.

Sunday short takes

*UConn’s Marc Gatcomb, who joined the Islanders’ organization this season, was summoned off the ice during the morning skate with Bridgeport of the AHL and sent up to New York on an emergency basis when a flu bug hit Jean-Gabriel Pageau among others on the team.

After taking his “rookie lap” before Tuesday’s game against Ottawa, Gatcomb, 25, flipped the puck over the glass to his parents, who drove down from Massachusetts. He played 7 1/2 minutes with the fourth line, and was returned to Bridgeport, where he has nine goals and eight assists. He’s the ninth UConn player to reach the NHL.

“I thought he had a really good start. That line had some energy at the beginning,” coach Patrick Roy told reporters afterward. “I thought he did a really, really nice job. He was physical, he was good for his first game.

*With Brad Robbins off to Tulsa, UConn coach Jim Mora has an important hire to make. To get the attention of quality quarterbacks in the transfer portal, a respected QB coach is essential. Hey, would Dan Orlovsky be interested?

*Former UConn men’s basketball teammates Jalen Adams and Brendan Adams (no relation) are pro teammates this season with Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

*With Dodger Stadium undergoing renovations, it looks like the UConn-Vanderbilt baseball game scheduled to be played there March 2 will be moved to UCLA.

*Only baseball produces one-of-a-kind characters like Bob Uecker, the backup catcher who made a career out of putting himself down to lift the rest of us up. “A Braves scout came to my house and said they wanted to sign me for $20,000. My Dad said, ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have that kind of money.'” Uecker died Thursday at 90, a long life, so well-lived.

Coach K says Big East, ACC should consider forming ‘mega-conference’

Last word

Mike Krzyzewski proposed an ACC-Big East merger or alliance this week and I listened with great interest, as I have proposed such an idea in this space before. Coach K has it right. Sure, it would be the best of all possible worlds for UConn, basically the original Big East re-assembled, plus Duke, UNC, et al. But it would also be good for the ACC, with UConn adding value in multiple sports. Rick Pitino was also talking about mega-conferences for basketball at Big East Media Day in October, and endorsed Coach K’s idea. So how does this sound? The Big East schools play their tournament at Madison Square Garden, the ACC at Barclays, can alternate years on that, and the two winners meet on Saturday.