Dan Hurley gives an optimistic update on Liam McNeeley after UConn star limps off the court with a right ankle injury vs DePaul

UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley provided an update on the injury Liam McNeeley sustained during their 81-68 drubbing of DePaul on Wednesday. Freshman Liam McNeeley went down with a right ankle injury in the second half after bumping heads with Blue Demons guard Layden Blocker on a loose ball.

McNeeley was eventually helped off the court, finishing the game with nine points, six rebounds, two assists and two stocks (steals plus blocks) in 25 minutes of action. Despite his absence, the Huskies held on for their 11th win of the season.

Here's the sequence that led to his injury:

During the post-game press conference, Hurley said that McNeeley avoided a serious and potentially long-term injury, but would need to undergo testing.

"We'll see what that looks like," Hurley said. "We'll get the MRI tomorrow. Hopefully, it's just a sprain. We don't know much." (2:45) .

All signs are pointing toward a short absence for the first-year bigman, much to the delight of the UConn program and its fanbase. The team is in the midst of Big East Conference games, so it will have to go through the first slew of games without McNeeley.

Hurley and the rest of the Huskies will have to step up without McNeeley as the team guns for its 12th victory of the season against the Providence Friars on Sunday, Jan. 5.

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Dan Hurley urges UConn Huskies to get better defensively

In the post-game presser, Hurley said that his team is built on three sophomores and a freshman, which is presumably McNeeley.

For a team aspiring for a championship three-peat this year, the tactician knows that his defense will have to catch up to the offense to win it all again.

"We're relying on three sophomores and a freshman that I think will continue to develop though January and February...I think we have good championship potential as an offensive team. But, if our defense and rebounding doesn't get there then we're not going to win any championship," Hurley said. (9:30)

Standouts Solo Ball and Alex Karaban paved the way to the DePaul win with 22 and 18 markers, respectively. But they didn't have much to show for on defense. With McNeeley out, the UConn Huskies may need to ramp up their defense along with the bench giving more production to fill in the void.