UConn men appear primed to play defense in Dan Hurley style

UNCASVILLE — Bill Parcells used to say, “if they don’t bite when they’re puppies, they probably don’t bite,” or something like that.

A college basketball team, even one with varying levels of experience on the roster, starts out in the fall as a new litter. If it’s Dan Hurley’s group, if it’s going to play defense the way he wants it played, everyone from the runt on up needs to start nipping.

“Last year, we were so easy to play against,” Hurley said Monday, after the Huskies’ 71-52 win over Boston College in the preseason game at Mohegan Sun. “People just got catches anywhere they wanted to get catches, we didn’t get into the ball, we were not disruptive. Last year, we had no discipline and fouled a lot while being a soft team and letting the opponent catch it wherever they wanted. At least for us now, we’re pressuring people, we’re pressuring catches, we’re making people a little uncomfortable.”

What we learned from UConn men’s basketball’s exhibition win over Boston College

There was much to like, and much to work on following the state’s first look at the UConn men for the 2025-26 season. The old stalwarts, Solo Ball and Alex Karaban, led the way in scoring. The newcomers showed some jitters, shots didn’t fall. UConn, 8-for-34 on threes, blew a 16-point lead, and then rebuilt it.

But the one thing Hurley needed to see most was a team sinking its teeth into the challenge to play defense his way. It was even more important on a night when UConn’s best defensive players, center Tarris Reed Jr. and point guard Silas Demary Jr. were out with leg injuries. To put teams through hell, UConn must be able to shuttle nine or 10 players in and out of games. “Those are my roots as a coach,” Hurley said.

Playing without Reed and Demary, UConn held their ACC opponent to 25.9 percent shooting from the field in the second half, 31.9 for the game, and they turned 20 BC turnovers into 27 points. And the bottom line: The Huskies allowed only 52 points.

Can’t lose many doing that. The vibe of the game matched those numbers.

“We were missing, efficiency-wise, one of the best defensive centers and Silas is our best perimeter defensive player,” Hurley said. “So minus the fouling, the lack of discipline, losing the edge, over-pressuring drivers … there was un-discipline, but there was a lot of making them uncomfortable, kind of flying around like we didn’t last year. We have a long way to go there, but I’m not disappointed. Missing our two best defensive players, so I was overall pretty happy with it.”

When Hurley got to UConn, it took a couple of years to install his defensive principles, or more specifically, to find enough players able and willing to carry them out. Gradually, those kinds of players arrived and passed things on to the next group until the Huskies had the defense down, coupled it with the sophisticated, fast-pace Euro offense and won back-to-back championships.

For a time, it was thought UConn could recruit offensive players and coach them up on defense once they got to Storrs. Maybe defensive tactics and strategy can be coached, but the will, the bite, has to be there from day one.

As players came in and out Monday night, that willingness to swarm and trap and disrupt was there. Jayden Ross was a plus-26 in 17 minutes off the bench, with two blocks, and Dwayne Koroma a plus-19 in a little under 12 minutes, game changers, to some degree, on defense. Nine players played significant minutes.

“We showed great flashes of what we can do on offense and defense,” said Karaban, who had 17 points, 11 rebounds. “I thought we competed on both ends of the floor.”

Eric Reibe, the 7-foot-1 freshman, stepped in for Reed and was imposing. Malachi Smith, the transfer from Dayton, started in Demary’s place and brought energy reminiscent of a healthy Hassan Diarra.

Two starters unavailable for UConn exhibition vs. Boston College; Reed to be re-evaluated

“Malachi stepped up huge for us,” Karaban said. “He’s always got a great energy about him. I think we really played off his defense today, the energy he created on the defensive end really sparked everyone else out there.”

Ross and Jaylin Stewart, juniors, came off the bench and changed the energy for stretches. The UConn roster “screams for them” to be players of more impact this season, Hurley said.

Boston College drove the lane to counter-act the Huskies’ ball pressure, and got to the line for 30 attempts, but it was not enough to break UConn on that end.

“The first thing we did for this game, our defense was really locked in, start to finish,” Ball said. “We had spurts where it could have been a lot better. This game doesn’t count, but we’re going to treat the film the same way.”

Ball, an indispensable force on offense, has made a commitment to improving his defense. “I don’t want to start handing out trophies to Solo,” Hurley said. “I want to go back and watch, but the eye test said he was better. We have to get better there, our perimeter defense. Solo wants to be good on defense, he just needs to get back to playing more athletic at that end of the court.”

The skill to play Dan Hurley defense can be developed as the season goes on. The will has to be there, be visible right now. On that basis, the Huskies, ranked No. 4 in the AP preseason poll, passed the first test. These puppies were biting.

“I do think the team has got the potential,” Hurley said, “with Tarris and Silas, with the bench, to really be a team that turns people over a lot, pressures people and is more disruptive.”