Dan Hurley on driving UConn's resurgence after Creighton upset: "Become a maniacal, ruthless, relentless warrior, competitor, life or death urgency"

Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies are gunning for their third straight national championship but have lost two of their last three games, including Saturday's 68-63 defeat against the Creighton Bluejays at Gampel Pavilion. Their record now stands at 13-5.

In the postgame press conference, Hurley discussed his team's lack of will and tenacity following the loss to Creighton. A reporter asked him if he could coach the tenacity and will into this Huskies team in the middle of the season or if it was too late for that now.

"I’ve said this before, they are great guys," Hurley said (Timestamp 4:19). "They’re awesome on campus, on the airplanes, in the restaurants, which is great. That’s how you want to be, but when you take the court, the switch has to flip."

"You have to become a maniacal, ruthless, relentless warrior, competitor, life or death urgency to rebound the ball and win loose balls. We’ve been fortunate ... obviously the roster’s flipped. It’s about being like a warrior, an incredible competitor," Hurley added.

A reporter then asked Dan Hurley if the team's collective personality being an issue was a surprise for him. The UConn coach agreed with that notion.

"I’ve spoken to the team through you guys in the media. There’s a hunger that you have to have when you take the court."

"There’s this wild desire that you have to have, where you will not be denied, where you’re gonna get over a screen and you’re gonna contest the shot and you’re gonna track down a loose ball and you’re gonna give a warrior’s effort. Certainly, that's not who we've been."

Dan Hurley's UConn suffers another late-game collapse in loss to Creighton

Dan Hurley's No. 14 UConn Huskies started out strong against the Creighton Bluejays, opening the game with a 10-2 run. The Bluejays battled back, however, finishing the first half with their own 10-2 blast to take a 35-28 advantage at the break.

Creighton Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner (#11) blocks the shot of UConn Huskies forward Alex Karaban (#11) in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Photo: Imagn

Dan Hurley's team came storming back after the halftime interval, with Alex Karaban igniting a 15-4 burst to give the Huskies a 43-41 lead. The Bluejays answered right back with a 16-5 run to grab a 57-48 advantage with seven minutes remaining.

The Huskies rallied again, unleashing an 11-1 run to take a 59-58 lead with 3:27 left. Creighton had the final say, though, scoring 10 of the last 14 points of the second half to snap UConn's 28-game home winning streak.