UConn men rolling through harrowing schedule

NEW YORK — Twenty-five days ago the UConn men dove into a mini-March Madness, a dry rehearsal for the real thing. Six games against Sweet 16-Elite Eight-caliber opponents, bunched together with travel included were bound to test the Huskies’ fortitude.

There would be fatigue to fight, injuries to surmount, down-the-stretch pressure more intense than the inexperienced players have faced, a mid-major potential trap here and there — all the things that can come with the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. It has not been survive and advance, per se, but a November-December simulation, and the Huskies have been able to close out the close ones.

“When you play the people that we played, we’re literally playing the best teams,” Dan Hurley said, after UConn gutted out a 77-73 win over defending champ Florida in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. “Probably we played five of the top 15 teams in the country. So these are the type of games you’re going to find yourself in. These are teams you’re going to be playing in an Elite Eight game.”

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None of these games, mind you, have felt like exhibition games played in a converted ballroom or a spartan arena off the mainland with a smattering of fans. Big crowds, bright lights, only, on Tuesday night the perfect atmosphere and performance to show the new football coach, Jason Candle, sitting behind Hurley’s father, what this is all about. The UConn men had to forge through these weeks without important players, or with important players, Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed Jr., specifically, at less than full capacity, and forge through it they have, 4-1 with one game left.

“When Bray went down and when Tarris with the hamstring to the ankle, it was a pretty daunting task to play the schedule, especially the frontcourts, ” Hurley said. “Just the Illinois frontcourt. This frontcourt here with Tarris not anywhere close to his best. The Kansas frontcourt on the road. To be able to win those games, just a testament to Alex Karaban and his leadership and the group in general.”

To review, the Huskies held off a furious comeback to take down BYU in Boston in a top-10 matchup Nov. 15. Four days later, with Reed and Mullins out, they were badly outrebounded by Arizona at Gampel Pavilion, but very nearly stole the game, losing by four in a top-five match. On to the Garden Nov. 28, where they controlled the game against Illinois wire-to-wire, with Mullins breaking in with 10 minutes and Reed back, giving what he had. They went to Kansas and won, a first in program history, with no Reed again, but a Mullins breakout, on Dec. 2. These are the kind of games for which a player comes to UConn, Karaban noted, they just don’t usually happen this frequently, this early.

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On Tuesday, they faced the team that ended their three-peat hopes last March and then went on to win the championship. UConn stalled a couple of times, as the Gators took the lead in the first half, and early in the second, but for the first time they had Reed out there at fairly close to 100 percent, and Mullins, though in foul trouble, able to make a momentum-changing spurt. It was just a glimpse of what this could look like with all the pieces in place, and it was impressive.

“I think it’s going to grow,” said Karaban, who scored 13 and had a key block during the final minutes. “We’re always a confident team. We always believe we’re the best team in the country. But to get two key pieces that we were missing back makes us even more confident, a lot stronger, obviously. We’re going to continue to grow. Tarris really boosted us offensively to start the game. He just presents such a different look offensively and defensively. This was his first game back in a while. It was big time for us. And then Braylon, what he gave us in the second half changed the game for us, and he’s only a freshman getting thrown into the fire here.”

All six of these opponents were ranked when the season began, and the Huskies have one more game, against Texas, no longer ranked, on Friday night in Hartford to end this first phase of the season. Hurley made his periodic reminder that the team’s performance warrants a big, loud crowd, Kansas-level.

Without a doubt, the level of excitement surrounding this team should be up a notch. In a packed Madison Square Garden, about 60-40 UConn fans, maybe more, the Huskies showed the depth they have acquired since last year, not just bodies but alternatives, allows them to wear opponents down.

“I feel that the strength of our team is just the depth and how you can just go to the bench and there’s no drop off,” said Solo Ball, who scored 19, clinching the game with free throws in the final minutes.

The game wasn’t perfect, none of these have been. Florida outrebounded the Huskies, though the Gators’ skill set plays to that stat. They also got UConn in foul trouble, but Hurley had the answers sitting beside him. Last year, he often cited “roster construction” as the obstacle to winning the third straight title. This year, he refers to roster construction as the strength. The Huskies can overcome an injury, or foul trouble, or a bad night from one or two of their core players and still beat a tournament-caliber team.

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“You’ve certainly got a lot of options,” Hurley said. “I think that Silas (Demary Jr.), the foul trouble caused some issues with his rhythm in the game. Again, the strength of the way this roster was constructed. Now you’ve got a guy like Malachi Smith (nine assists), who you have the luxury of a guy who was a great player at Dayton that is able to give you what he gave us. I think that just getting Tarris back, he probably played tonight at 75 percent capacity, getting this guy healthier, just getting Braylon in rhythm.

“Obviously his first half was foul plagued. But yeah, we just, we’ve got wings, we’ve got point guards, we’ve got two excellent centers. It was good to see Solo and AK make big threes.”

In phasing out multiteam events, teams like UConn and Florida are instead building intense nonconference schedules designed to test, and to take big swings. Connect, and there’s a high seeding with their name on it, but miss and things go sideways. The Gators (5-4) have lost to Arizona, Duke, TCU and UConn. For the Huskies (9-1), the road back to the top is open and the vehicle to get there is just beginning to shift into gear.

“When all is said and done and we’re fully healthy,” Hurley said, in a rare understatement, “I think it’s a pretty formidable group.”