Could red-hot UConn men's basketball become first back-to-back champ since 2007?
UConn just keeps on rolling.
The No. 1 Huskies have not lost since a Dec. 20 defeat to Seton Hall, and they got the job done again on Tuesday night by holding off Butler 71-62 at home. The win marks UConn’s 11th straight and moves the defending national champions to 21-2 (11-1 Big East) on the season.
There's no semblance of a championship hangover with this group.
"We won it with our defense," head coach Dan Hurley told reporters after the win. "Felt like there was a lid on the bucket for us a little bit, could have made it a little easier on ourselves if we finished some plays around the rim. ... But we had a tremendous respect for them coming in."
Can UConn keep it going? In the rugged Big East, that will be a challenge. The Huskies play No. 7 Marquette twice (on Feb. 17 and Mar. 6) before the regular season concludes, and also face No. 19 Creighton on the road on Feb. 20.
With a 2.5-game lead on the Golden Eagles for first place in the conference, UConn still has work to do to lock down the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
But the Huskies should be favored to do so. UConn is ranked third nationally at KenPom — behind only Houston and Purdue — with Marquette (10th) and Creighton (18th) the only Big East clubs in the top 30. Clearly, the Huskies are the class of the conference.
Are they the class of the country? That question will be answered come the NCAA Tournament, but one thing is obvious: UConn has a legitimate chance at reaching back-to-back Final Fours for the first time in program, and even becoming the first repeat men’s champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
The most impressive part about all this? The fact that the Huskies are rolling despite sporting a vastly different team than the one that cut down the nets in Houston last April.
Their top two scorers, Adam Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, left for the NBA. Their glue guy, Andre Jackson Jr., departed as well. With those vacancies, floor general Tristen Newton, sharpshooters Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban and 7-foot-2 center Donovan Clingan have been tasked with expanded roles.
But UConn keeps chugging along. The Huskies are one of four teams (Purdue, Arizona and Auburn being the other three) to boast top-15 marks in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, per KenPom.
They can beat you from outside, they can pound it down low with Clingan and they can get those crucial stops every group needs come March — and April. They have Hurley, a hard-nosed, blue-collar kid from Jersey City who has become one of the best hoops coaches in America, no matter the level.
This is, no matter the criteria, a national title contender. Don’t expect that to change as the season’s defining stretch approaches.
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