Here are five things to know about University of Connecticut basketball coach Dan Hurley.
UConn opened this year’s tournament on Friday night in Raleigh, North Carolina by taking on Oklahoma in a quest for a third consecutive national title.
UConn is a No. 8 seed in the West Region.
The Huskies opened at No. 3 in the preseason AP Top 25 and eventually dropped out of the poll.
Coach Dan Hurley feels this actually puts them at a bit of an advantage, with the pressure lifting off their shoulders, ever so slightly for this first round.
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"It's obviously going to be a really challenging game but excited to be in the tournament, excited for this time of year to be participating in the best sporting event that we do on a yearly basis in our country,” Hurley said.
The team is excited heading into the tournament.
“It’s exciting. I mean, the dream’s always play in March Madness and to be here again, it’s special, and we just can’t wait to get out there on the floor tomorrow and play,” Alex Karaban said Thursday.
Dog House
“I'm super confident in this team. I believe in this team, we've been battle tested, we've been through a lot but we stayed resilient and i think that's what is going to help us in this tournament.”Hassan Diarra said.
UConn won its last 12 games in the NCAA Tournament, putting them in position for a threepeat that hasn’t been done since the early 1970s UCLA dynasty.
“There's just a different level of confidence when you go into March with UConn, so really excited and eager to get out there with the guys, eager to get out there with the coaches and put a special run together,” Aidan Mahaney said.
The Huskies have won national titles as the West Regional champion before and not all of the six previous national titles began with the Huskies as a pre-tournament favorite.
If UConn and Florida meet in the second round, there will be plenty of references to the Gators, who were the last team to win back-to-back national titles (2006-07) before UConn. For now, the focus is squarely on Oklahoma.
The game starts at 9:25 p.m.
