Dan Hurley seems optimistic on 2x NCAA champion Alex Karaban despite UConn star shooting 1 for 14 vs DePaul

UConn coach Dan Hurley remains confident in junior forward Alex Karaban despite his uncharacteristically poor shooting performance in the Huskies' game against DePaul. Karaban connected just 1 of 14 shots from the field in UConn's 72-61 win over the Blue Demons on Wednesday night.

Karaban, the leading scorer for the defending national champions, finished with just eight points, a far cry from his season average of 15.4 points per game prior to Wednesday.

This is also the first time he logged back-to-back single-digit scoring outputs this campaign. He scored 9 points on 4-of-13 shooting in the team's loss to Xavier on Saturday.

Dan Hurley defended the veteran in the postgame press conference by praising Karaban's overall contributions to the team beyond just his scoring.

"I thought he showed growth by keep shooting. If he made a couple more, he probably would have taken 18, and he has to do that right now with Liam (McNeeley) out," Hurley said (3:47).

"It's part of his development to be the face and the top guy in the scouting report ... He's going to continue to get better at making harder shots. I was just happy that he stayed aggressive, continued to put pressure on the paint, and even when he's missing shots, he still creates space for other people."

Alex Karaban added a game-high eight assists and six rebounds, showing his ability to impact the game in multiple ways even when his shot is not falling.

Dan Hurley praises his players' character in a comeback win over DePaul

Judging from the first-half performance against DePaul, Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies were on the verge of another tough loss.

They came to the game following a road defeat to Xavier, and the Blue Demons were giving them all they could handle for the first 20 minutes.

No. 25 UConn found itself trailing by eight points at halftime. but the Huskies showed resilience in the second half, outscoring DePaul 43-24 en route to a 72-61 victory

"Obviously, the first half was disappointing on a number of levels, but huge character step-up performance from Jaylin Stewart," Dan Hurley said (0:43). "Tarris (Reed) played like a real warrior and played with honor, something you could be really proud of.

"Solo (Ball) had a huge block and then some big shots, and then Aidan Mahaney's first half gave us some life when we were really struggling."

The Huskies (15-6, 7-3 Big East) have another big test coming up on Saturday — a road trip at No. 9 Marquette.