Hurley needs bench ‘ready to play’ as depth becomes concern

Dan Hurley isn’t known for having a long leash with his players.

He’s said a number of times that distributing minutes is the easiest part of his job. It’s a simple equation: Not playing well? Get off the court.

UConn has officially reached the part of the season, in a three-way battle with St. John’s and Villanova for the Big East regular season title, where it can’t afford bench players coming into games and killing momentum, but it also needs its bench prepared to make a positive impact come tournament time. And it can’t rely on starters playing 30-plus minutes per game down the stretch.

“These games all feel like Game 7s, these games all feel like playoff games,” Hurley said after Monday’s practice. “If you’re hurting the team over the stretch of multiple possessions, offense, defense, I’m going to get you off the court. Because conference games, no matter what the KenPom says or what the NET says or what the metrics say, you get to these dog days of the season, these games are all hard to win, home or away.”

Alex Karaban leads the team, and the Big East conference, in minutes played at 33.6 per game, followed by Solo Ball at 30.1, Silas Demary Jr. at 28.4, Braylon Mullins at 26.6 and Tarris Reed Jr. at 25.7.

The starter minutes have been trending up lately with games getting more competitive and the reserves less reliable.

In Saturday’s win over Georgetown, Eric Reibe played 22 minutes off the bench – his highest total since the start of Big East play – because Tarris Reed Jr. was in foul trouble, eventually fouling out with four points and a rebound while his freshman backup scored 10 of the 12 bench points. One of four reserves averaging more than 15 minutes per game, Reibe played nine minutes at Butler and just five at St. John’s.

Jaylin Stewart played only four scoreless minutes against Georgetown after a 10-minute stint at Butler and 11 minutes – with varying levels of impact – in three of the previous four games. Jayden Ross has primarily served as a wing defender off the bench and played 14 minutes against the Hoyas, but has only contributed multiple made baskets in four conference games. And Malachi Smith, the backup point guard who was meant to fill somewhat of a Hassan Diarra role, has played less than eight minutes in each of the last three outings. He’s only had two games in conference play with multiple made baskets and four with at least three assists.

“It’s not sustainable,” Hurley said. “We need the bench guys to step up so I can play them. I want to play the bench. At times during the year, the bench has been a strength. Eric, based on Tarris’ performance the other night, if it wasn’t for Eric we would’ve lost the game. Eric stepped up. We need Jaylin, we need Jayden Ross, we need Malachi or potentially Alec (Millender). Maybe we just look for a spark and just get somebody else in.”

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“We know how talented they are and we know how much we need them. There’s some days too where they kick our (expletive) in practice,” Karaban said after he played 38 minutes against Georgetown, a mark he’s hit in four conference games this season. “We know how important they are to the team and we know that we need them and just (have to) continue to give them confidence day in and day out.”

More than 73% of UConn’s point total this season has come from its starters, who’ve accounted for nearly 65% of the minutes despite Mullins, Reed and Ball missing a combined 13 games.

“I’ve got confidence in those (bench) guys, they’ve proven it. Malachi has won multiple games for us this year, I think Eric has been pretty consistent,” Hurley said. “But it’s no secret, Jaylin’s got to get himself going, J-Ross, Malachi, we’ve got to help them. But I think the responsibility is with these guys. They’re all veteran players, guys that have been around this program for multiple years or a guy like Malachi with a lot of experience. When you get in the game, play well.”