No. 4 UConn men's basketball team prepares with urgency for hostile battle at Providence: What to know

STORRS – There was certainly no celebrating around the UConn men’s basketball program after its 10th consecutive win, its fourth in a row by 18 points or more, against Marquette on Sunday.

“We were bad the other day,” coach Dan Hurley said. “We played really poorly on Sunday and got away with it.”

The Huskies have another short turnaround before they ship up to Providence to meet a team coming off a big win at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, and that had an extra day of preparation ahead of an even bigger opportunity Wednesday night. There was a heightened sense of urgency in the Werth practice facility on Tuesday evening, knowing the challenges that come with playing the Friars in their building.

“Where sports are now, it’s hard to get your players and your team’s attention with so many things that are vying for their attention individually. So we just have to remind them that they play at UConn and if you care about your legacy and how you’ll be remembered here, beyond just the resources that you accumulate in your experience here,” Hurley said. “If you’re Tarris Reed or some of these guys that are in their last go-around here, if you care where your tickets are gonna be when you ask for tickets to a home game – because I can promise you, the guys on the championship teams probably sit a little lower.”

Suffice to say, Hurley wasn’t happy with the defensive performance against Marquette, despite the Golden Eagles shooting 32% from the field and 21% from beyond the arc, turning the ball over 11 times. He wasn’t happy with the Huskies’ inefficiency shooting the ball, also just 21% from beyond the arc, or finishing at the rim, or the fact that they were losing the rebounding battle until the second half.

“We were just so bad in our last game that the last thing that any of us feel like is that we’re a juggernaut,” he said. “Monday’s) film and practice and meetings were very uncomfortable and today, I think there’s just a lot of frustration with that type of performance.”

The last few days have been filled with “brutal honesty” and “direct coaching,” Hurley said, using clips directly from the game to point out where players weren’t physical enough or giving the relentless effort that is demanded in order to get to the championship level they’re striving for.

Reed hasn’t quite gotten there, stunted a bit by the nagging ankle and hamstring injuries earlier in the season that have held him back from getting to the All-American-level big the Huskies’ coaches envision him being. There was a mention at the end of Tuesday’s practice of his performance last year at Amica Mutual Pavilion, when he dominated the game with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks off the bench.

It was textbook film for how the coaches want him to perform.

“I mean, he rolled hard, he was around the basket, he was around the paint kind of the way that Adama (Sanogo) was around the paint for us. There’s a connection between kind of where he positioned himself and how that game went for him, so we want to kind of get him to position himself that way again,” Hurley said.

Providence is a much different team now, though it returned a core of Corey Floyd Jr., Oswin Erhunmwunse and Ryan Mela. There wasn’t much positivity in Friartown after Kim English’s squad lost its first two Big East games, first in an overtime shootout at Butler, then a close one at home against Seton Hall.

But a significant surge in momentum came at MSG on Saturday, when freshman Jamier Jones held his own against the talented St. John’s frontcourt for a 15-point 10-rebound double-double, and classmate Stefan Vaaks came off the bench to score 15 of his 16 points in the second half, including the layup that put the dagger in a key road win over Rick Pitino’s Johnnies.

“They’re a super confident group heading into (Wednesday) and obviously we know how tough that environment can be, so we’re excited,” Alex Karaban said. “(Jones) is super athletic… the way that he imposed himself against St. John’s, he was really the X-factor to that game. Super talented player, super talented freshman, just doesn’t play like a freshman.”

“They’ve got high-level talent,” Hurley said. “Not many people are gonna win on the road versus St. John’s this year, so that gets your attention right away. But I’ve watched them, they played Florida prior to us playing Florida, I watched them in Mohegan versus Virginia Tech. Their offensive firepower, especially on the perimeter, is as good as you’re gonna play against in the league.”

Providence, averaging the fourth-most 3-pointers made per game in the league (9.43), is led by a pair of transfers in senior guards Jason Edwards, who leads the Big East in scoring at 17.9 points per game, and Jaylin Sellers, averaging 16.0 points and shooting 42.3% from beyond the arc. Erhunmwunse, a 6-foot-10 big, leads the league in blocked shots at 2.93 per game.

UConn is preparing for one of, if not the most hostile environment it will encounter this year.

“I just straight up told (the new guys), they don’t like us,” junior Jaylin Stewart said. “We’re gonna go in there, they’re gonna be calling us names, fans are gonna be saying a lot, doing a lot, so we’ve just got to stay focused and stay together as one. It’s always fun going into a place with fans that don’t like you, don’t like your coach, don’t like what you’re about. We’re about winning, so that’s what we want to do.”