If you’re a college basketball fan, being inside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night for the Jimmy V Classic felt like something you simply couldn’t miss. The event, part of ESPN’s annual partnership with the V Foundation, serves as a fundraiser for cancer research in honor of former NC State coach Jim Valvano. And this year’s main event had Dan Hurley and Todd Golden, the last two national championship-winning coaches, going head-to-head.

The UConn Huskies ended up taking the win, 77-73, but he still wasn’t happy with the performance against the 18th-ranked team in the country.

“We were minus 12 on the glass, that’s probably my biggest concern,” Hurley said in the post-game press conference.

The Huskies came into this game with plenty of motivation. It was the Florida Gators who ended their hopes for a three-peat last season, knocking them out in the second round. The SEC champions went on to win the whole thing, leaving Dan Hurley and his team frustrated by that two-point loss.

Solo Ball scored 19 points, Alex Karaban added 13 points, and Tarris Reed Jr., in his return from an ankle injury, chipped in 12 points to help lead the Huskies to a big win over the Gators and push their record to 9-1 for the season. But as mentioned, Hurley was far from impressed with his team’s play in the paint.

The Gators, who lead the nation in rebounding at 47.62 per game, managed to grab 40 boards and score 38 points in the paint.

The Huskies, in response, pulled down just 28 rebounds and scored 34 points from inside. If not for their incredible 50% shooting from the field and 44% from three, this game could easily have ended in a loss for Hurley’s side.

The Huskies are one of the best defensive teams in the country. They concede just 60.4 points per game, placing them inside the top 10 nationally. But rebounding remains a major weakness. According to The Athletic, the UConn team isn’t even in the top 50, averaging only 33.1 rebounds per game.

Unless coach Hurley can fix this issue, the chances of the Huskies reclaiming their throne will remain a distant dream. But it’s still early in the season, there’s a lot of basketball left to be played, and this team is stronger than last year’s group. That alone gives fans hope that Hurley will find a way to address the problem. Following the game, however, Hurley couldn’t stop raving about one Gator in particular…

Dan Hurley believes Thomas Haugh is a future lottery pick

The Gators lost a huge part of their championship core when Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard all chose to turn pro. To make matters worse, Denzel Aberdeen, who many expected to become Golden’s starting point guard, entered the portal and headed to Kentucky. With so much talent gone, they looked like a team searching for its identity. That’s when forward Thomas Haugh stepped up and took on the responsibility of carrying it.

Haugh is averaging 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 47.5% shooting, and he has easily been Florida’s best player since moving into the starting lineup. The Gators may be just 5-4 so far, but he has been their steadying force and biggest bright spot. And Hurley was impressed with the way he played.

“Haugh’s one of my favorite players in recent memory,” Hurley said via ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. “That guy is just an incredible player. How he’s developed and how Todd has developed that guy. That guy’s like a first-team All-American. He should be a lottery pick. He’s tremendous, man.”

Next up for the Huskies is another SEC matchup, this time against the Texas Longhorns, with ESPN giving the Huskies an 85.4% chance to win. The game will provide Hurley an opportunity to address his team’s rebounding issues before Big East play begins on December 16, when they take on the Butler Bulldogs.