"Get outside the system": Dan Hurley explains major change in UConn coaching strategy after losing key NCAA championship pieces

The UConn Huskies, coached by Dan Hurley, is vying for a rare national championship three-peat in the 2024-25 season. They will have to pull out all of the stops in the upcoming postseason though, as they are unranked in the nation, with an 11-6 Big East conference record, 19-9 overall, with three final regular-season games left in their schedule.

During the pre-game press conference of Hurley and Co.'s matchup against the unranked Providence Friars on Friday, Hurley shared how he and his Huskies have been embracing the challenge of losing key cogs from their national title runs this campaign, which they hope will translate to March Madness success.

"Just giving these guys a little more freedom to play, and get outside the system. I don't think it's something we've had to do the last couple of years because we were so lethal on stops, off blocked shots. We would just get out and go make plays and obviously on dead balls and made baskets, you got to be able to execute," Dan Hurley shared. (4:30)

"Then, maybe when something gets guarded well, you have to have players that could play off script and drive the ball and then finish, or drive the ball and bodies rotate to them, and they could spray the ball somewhere," he added.

UConn's conference game against Providence is slated for Saturday on the road, where Hurley will hope that he and his squad can gain more momentum heading into the later stage of the campaign.

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Dan Hurley asserts that he has players that can take over, details how they can do it

As Dan Hurley laid down the the UConn Huskies' gameplan on how they have been recuperating with the loss of their previous standouts, he was asked if he feels he has players who can fill the void.

Dan Hurley resoundingly affirmed that he does, detailing some of the Huskies' current key players and what their strengths are.

"We do. I think they have in their capability to do it. I think Solo's gotten better at playing with a live dribble and getting in the paint. Now, it's about finishing and decision-making.

"It's what you want Alex to do more and Liam to create and Hassan to pick his spots. Jaylen Stewart is a much better one-on-one player than he's been able to show here," he explained. (5:26)

For the season, freshman Liam McNeeley has been a revelation for UConn this year, as he's leading the team in points with 15.4, to go with 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest. Sophomore Solo Ball has followed suit with 14.9 markers of his own, supplemented by veteran Alex Karaban's 14.2 average.