"They had no chance to win no matter how well Zach played": 2x national champ Dan Hurley speaks on UConn's gameplan following national title win

UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley won his second national championship in two years, as his Huskies team defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 to win the 2024 March Madness on Monday.

Hurley's squad has been dominant season-long, with the Boilermakers being its first and last real test of the season. But like all the other teams the Huskies faced this season, the Boilermakers were easily dispatched.

During the press conference after the title matchup, Dan Hurley spoke about his game plan, which had one particular goal.

"We didn't care if Zach (Edey) took 28 shots to get 35 points," Hurley said. "The gameplan was, no (Braden) Smith, no (Fletcher) Loyer, no (Mason) Gillis, no (Lance) Jones. Keep them under 18 or 20 points as a group. They had no chance to win no matter how well Zach played."

Zach Edey has been the best player on the Boilermakers team and has had an incredible 2023-24 season. One of Edey's strengths is his point-scoring abilities. During this season, Edey led the country in average points per game with 25.2 points and was ranked in the top three nationally in rebounds with an average of 12.2 per game.

Hurley knew that Edey would put a good amount of points on the board against the Huskies, but to counteract his impact, Hurley wanted his team to stop the players around him from scoring.

One of these players is Braden Smith, the Boilermakers' main creator of point-scoring attempts, with Smith recording 7.5 assists per game on average, the fourth-highest in the country.

Finally, senior guard Lance Jones was another player in the group that Dan Hurley identified as a target to limit. Jones has averaged 11 points per game and scored 14 points in Purdue's 63-50 victory over NC State in the Final Four.

Did Dan Hurley and the Huskies' plan succeed?

Zach Edey scored 37 points and had 10 rebounds on Monday night. However, he had no assists and a field goal completion rate of 60%, his lowest during the entire tournament.

Even with Hurley's acceptance that Edey was going to have a strong night, this was a below-par performance from him and could be related to the large amount of defensive pressure the Huskies put on him.

Additionally, Hurley's plan to stop the players around Edey from scoring also appeared to work. Smith recorded eight assists and 12 points. Both of these figures were to be expected from Smith.

However, the numbers from Jones show a massive decrease from what he had normally done this season. Jones was shut down by the Huskies during the game and was only able to score five points.

The gameplan from Dan Hurley worked, as the Boilermakers top playmakers could never get going, allowing UConn to win and retain the national title.

Do you think these tactics helped the Huskies win the 2024 NCAA Tournament?