“It looks like Bob’s safe”: Dan Hurley admits 'having his people make sure' Gonzaga star couldn’t catch his brother in all-time assists list

A big matchup awaits Dan Hurley and the No. 18 UConn Huskies when they play the No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. It's significant that Hurley is paying extra attention to a star on the opposing team.

In a Zoom call on Friday with "The UConn Daily," Hurley discussed the Huskies' preparations for the Bulldogs. One topic was Gonzaga star Ryan Nembhard, who is averaging 10.7 assists per game as one of the best playmakers in the country.

"His speed and the offense that he generates for his team, and he's assisting at such an incredibly high rate that I had my people just check to make sure he couldn't catch my brother [former Duke Blue Devils point guard Bobby Hurley, who owns the NCAA men's all-time assists record with 1,076 assists]," Hurley said. (1:40)

"I saw he's averaging double-figures in assists ... but it looks like Bob's safe, unless [Nembhard]'s got a COVID year or something potentially. But yeah, he's one of the best point guards in the country.

"He creates all types of problems for you in transition, in the ball-screen game and his ability to put pressure into defense. But overall they have a great, great offense."

Dan Hurley dives deeper into UConn's matchup with Gonzaga

Dan Hurley went further into his evaluation of Gonzaga's squad, acknowledging two players in their frontcourt, Braden Huff and Graham Ike. Huff is putting up 12.2 points and 3.6 rebounds on 56.8% shooting overall as a spark plug off the bench. Meanwhile, Graham leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.3 points and seven rebounds per game on 53.4% shooting from the field.

"It's I think without question, the best tandem of centers offensively, in terms of, the ability to score in the ball-screen game, low post ... Huff, looks like he's got a pretty clean 3-point shooting; Ike has made some middies and he's got a little Zach Randolph-type of offensive game to him, he's nasty. He's hard.

"Everyone says, 'can't let him get his right shoulder,' that it's hard to keep him off his right shoulder. Same thing with Huff.

"I don't think anyone's got a center tandem like they've got right now. It's kind of like what we've had the last last couple years with [Adama] Sanogo and Donovan [Clingan]. When the backup center comes in a game, you usually catch a break, but not like for them, they're both excellent."

After the game against No. 8 Gonzaga, Dan Hurley and his No. 18 UConn will play against Xavier at the XL Center on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. ET.