Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies just battled for a crucial Big East win, but instead of celebrating, the coach immediately pointed out the conference-specific problem that could derail their season. After avoiding successive defeats, he revealed why his UConn team plays at a major disadvantage against the Big East opponents.

“I think it’s actually harder for us to play Big East conference games,” Dan Hurley told TNT after the win over Villanova.

“We are a much better team when we play non-conference foes and NCAA tournament games because people in this league know us so well, and the way that we play with our off-ball movement. They’re kind of on our stuff in this league.”

The recent games have shown how the Big East teams are adapting to UConn’s plays. Defeats to Creighton and St. John’s, and close games against Georgetown and Butler, saw these teams set their offense to get more open looks from outside, using ball screens effectively.

The Villanova Wildcats presented a tough challenge on the night, with the UConn Huskies leading by just two points at halftime. They came out strong, recording a 13-2 run early in the second half. The run included a stretch of over 5 minutes without scoring for the Villanova Wildcats. The UConn Huskies shut down the Villanova offense with aplomb, with their guards stepping up their physical defense.

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UConn also addressed its biggest concern in recent games, its outside defense. The Huskies’ defense against ball screens was more physical and intense against Villanova, restricting the Wildcats to just 25% shooting in 24 attempts from behind the arc. Dan Hurley’s men also beat the Wildcats comprehensively in the paint, collecting 37 boards compared to Villanova’s 24.

The win over Villanova is the first success in a rare quad-one opportunity for UConn in the Big East scenario, especially after the defeat to Creighton. Their Wednesday night game against St. John’s will be crucial to deciding the seeding in the Big East. While the starters secured the win, the real story was the long-awaited emergence of the bench, a group Hurley has been challenging for weeks.

The UConn bench steps up in a massive road win over Villanova

UConn head coach Dan Hurley has been harping on about the lack of defensive intensity and bench contribution for weeks now. Against Villanova, though, both stepped up massively. The defense did its job. But the bench stepped up massively, contributing 22 points in the 10-point win over the Wildcats.

Dan Hurley took the blame for the lack of contribution from the bench so far. “I just think I did a bad job with some of these guys,” Dan Hurley admitted. “I think I mismanaged my bench, probably, for the last two weeks, and I gotta get those guys on the court because they’re a big reason why we had some of the best non-conference wins of anyone this year.”

The UConn Huskies average just over 17 points from the bench per game this season, ranking 298th in the entire NCAA. Dan Hurley used just 4 bench players in their win over Villanova. However, they provided 22 points from 59 shared minutes on the court.

Apart from just points, Jaylin Stewart & co. also helped stifle the Villanova offense around the paint, with the bench combining for 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The coach will be satisfied with his bench’s coming of age just before the upcoming conference playoffs and the NCAA Tournament.