"Put a square peg in a round hole...I screwed up": Dan Hurley admits blunder with Aidan Mahaney, lauds 6'2 UConn star Hassan Diarra

The UConn Huskies claimed a narrow victory over the Providence Friars, 87-84, on Sunday, Jan. 5, improving to 12-3 overall. The win positioned Dan Hurley's squad among the top teams in the Big East with its fourth straight division victory.

During the postgame press conference, Hurley acknowledged a mistake he made at the start of the 2024–25 season, which he has since fixed, contributing to UConn's six-game winning streak.

He said he had mismanaged the roles of veteran guards Aidan Mahaney and Hassan Diarra early in the season but has now adjusted their responsibilities.

"It probably would have made more sense to start him (Diarra) from the opener. Just have him at that natural point guard position rather than to put a square peg in a round hole there with trying to force that on Aidan," Hurley said. (Timestamp: 3:10)

"I thought you saw today, Aidan was on-ball some but for the majority of his minutes in the game, he was able to create offense."

Dan Hurley initially deployed Mahaney as a primary facilitator but has since shifted him to a shooting guard role. Diarra, meanwhile, has taken over as the team’s primary point guard. Hurley elaborated on Diarra’s growing importance:

"I screwed up the early part of the season there. Hassan, he's the heart and soul of the team along with Samson (Johnson). Just the passion that they put into it, obviously Alex is the captain but, whatever you ask Hassan to do he goes and does it. With Liam (McNeeley) out, we need now more production from Hassan."

In the win against Providence, Diarra finished with 19 points, eight assists and three steals as the starting point guard, while Mahaney dropped 15 markers on an efficient 4-for-5 shooting clip.

With aspirations for a national title three-peat, Dan Hurley and the Huskies will aim for their fifth conference victory on Wednesday, Jan. 8, against the Villanova Wildcats.

Dan Hurley praises Hassan Diarra's will to win as UConn topples Providence

During the press conferencew after the win against Providence, Dan Hurley credited Diarra as the driving force behind the Huskies' win over the Friars. He emphasized that Diarra’s determination was instrumental in avoiding what could have been a damaging loss.

"The game for us was obviously about Hassan Diarra and his will to not allow us to lose what would have been a really rough game, would've been a quad loss at home and just would've been a real tough one for us," Hurley shared. (0:30)

Diarra is in his fifth and final college basketball season.