INDIANAPOLIS – Screaming. Cursing. Intense drill work. Live basketball. No water breaks. Constant pressure. Three hours.
Nonstop.
Just the average Dan Hurley practice.
In his sixth year at the helm in Storrs, the fiery UConn head coach has continued to make his program a powerhouse. Under Hurley, UConn has never missed the NCAA Tournament. Over the last four seasons, the Huskies have compiled a 19-1 record in the NCAA Tournament and won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. They now have a chance to win their third title in the four-year span on Monday after a 71-62 win over Illinois on Saturday in the Final Four in Indianapolis.
The recipe is simple: manage pressure at the right times.
“I can’t even explain a practice,” UConn forward Jaylin Stewart said. “Every day is three hours of just straight work, getting screamed at. Pressure is on you. Hurley is always in your ass. When you get to moments like this, it’s kind of like nothing."
Leading up to the Final Four, UConn had won its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games by a combined five points. Down the stretch of the Huskies’ win over Illinois on Saturday, a 14-point lead faded to four with five minutes to go. With their season on the line, time after time, UConn’s players should feel all the pressure in the world.
That was not the case. It hasn’t been all year.
“The intense environment that we’re in really allows us to prosper out there on the court. The games get a lot easier,” senior forward Alex Karaban said. “Everything slows down. We know what to do. We’re more than prepared when we step on the court, it’s just a matter of executing.”
Combining 20 NCAA Tournament games over the last four years with the daily practice habits under Dan Hurley, games are the easiest part of UConn’s basketball operations. Even close games with the season on the line are easier than a Hurley practice.
Between the 9:44 and 5:02 marks of the second half, UConn was held scoreless. Illinois went on a 10-0 run over that span to cut the Huskies’ lead to four and had all the momentum in the world. After a Hurley timeout, UConn had two options: let the Illini keep rolling or be the tough, resilient UConn team that has made it this far.
Of course, the latter became the model of thinking.
Right out of the timeout, senior forward Tarris Reed Jr. dominated the low post for an easy layup over Illinois 7-footer Tomislav Ivisic. On the other end, Ivisic scrambled to grab an offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer, running toward the sideline and blindly throwing the ball over his shoulder to save it from going out of bounds.
Chaos should have ensued. UConn remained poised. Pressure was managed easily.
Karaban calmly corralled the errant pass and fed it up the floor. His teammate Solo Ball jammed it home with one hand on the fast break right in front of the UConn student section, screaming as he looked toward his teammates on the bench.
It was all UConn from there until the final buzzer. Another properly managed close game.
“This season hasn’t been a joyride. We haven’t been a machine of destruction,” Hurley said. “We’ve been a team that’s had to grind out games like this. We’re comfortable in a possession game like that.”
UConn is now one win away from its third national title in four years. It will line up against Big Ten regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Michigan. The Wolverines (31-3) have won each of their NCAA Tournament games by 10 or more points and have won their last two games by a combined 51 points.
The threat is imminent. UConn is ready for the test.
“We might not be the biggest team. We might not be the fastest team,” Reed Jr. said. “One thing about this team is that we’ve been battle-tested all season. We’ve got guys with championship pedigree. We’ve got a coaching staff with a championship pedigree. We’re going to fight to the end.”
The Huskies and Wolverines will tip off at 8:50 p.m. ET on Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to decide who will be the last team standing in The Big Dance.
