Dan Hurley wants to get Clingan’s minutes up after UConn men were out-toughed in loss to Providence; notes from Huskies’ second straight loss

The UConn men’s basketball team suffered its second straight defeat, 73-61, in Providence on Wednesday in what head coach Dan Hurley called an “embarrassing loss.”

The Huskies were dominated by Providence sophomore forward Bryce Hopkins, the current leading candidate for Big East Player of the Year. Hopkins scored 27 points, and opened plenty of self-inflicted wounds as repeated second-half fouls (17) allowed the Friars easy points at the free throw line.

UConn had no answer for Hopkins, who scored 13 of his points from the line, or senior guard Noah Locke, who consistently made them pay from the perimeter.

UConn never led in the second half in what was its first loss at Providence since 2012.

Offensively, the Huskies scored the fewest points they have all season, while shooting 36.5% from the field and just 22.7% from beyond the arc. Hurley noted after the game that freshmen Donovan Clingan (12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in 20 minutes) and Alex Karaban (11 points, 3-of-5 from deep, five rebounds) were UConn’s best players in the game; he also included sophomore Jordan Hawkins, who led the way with 15 points though most of which came in the second half.

“Generally, that’s not a great formula to go on the road versus another good team,” Hurley said.

Now 14-2 and 3-2 in conference play, the Huskies will need to right the ship before matching up with Creighton, the team projected to finish No. 1 in the conference coaches’ poll prior to the season.

Here are a few notes from Wednesday’s loss:

Huskies need to find a way to keep Clingan on the court: UConn’s 7-foot-2 freshman dominated again on Wednesday. His presence on the defensive end alters any shot coming from in the paint, and he blocked four – his most since his debut against Stonehill. Offensively, Clingan’s size is a significant threat – he dunked three times and laid in a putback, his other two points came from the free-throw line.

The most striking statistic is that as UConn’s most efficient player on both ends of the floor, Clingan only played about 21 minutes.

“We’ve got to get Donovan’s minutes up some way,” Hurley said after the game. “We tried to play some 1-3-1 (zone defense) but we’ve got to kind of tinker a little bit with what we can do offensively versus man with them in there.”

“Them” is referring to Clingan playing alongside Sanogo, the Huskies’ premiere big man who was projected to be the conference’s player of the year prior to the season. Hurley employed the two bigs in short stints on multiple occasions against Providence, but later said they hadn’t practiced it and that at times the alignments were “not pleasing to the eye.”

“I thought that was pretty cool,” Clingan said. “I thought we worked pretty well together, we rebound the ball well and we’ve just got to get used to that more and more in practice every day and then we’ll be good.”

3-point numbers were down, but Huskies were still out-toughed: Since Big East play began, UConn has approached program-record numbers in 3-pointers attempted, and hasn’t made as many as it would prefer. Against Providence, UConn shot just seven from deep in the first half, making one, and went into the break within three points of the lead. The Huskies finished the game having made just 5 of 22.

More than half of their points came from inside the paint, but the Huskies were only able to get to the free throw line 19 times compared to Providence’s 35.

“I think that physicality and toughness was the issue in the first half,” Hurley said, adding that when players were struggling on offense they let it affect the amount of effort they put into the defensive end.

“They’re a tough team... they really do attack you with their bodies, even on the offensive end of the court, the way they throw their bodies into you,” Hurley said.

Hawkins, visibly upset after the losAndre Jackson, UConn’s captain and most dynamic player, was on the bench for a majority of the first half after quickly getting into foul trouble. He finished the game having played 21 minutes and totalled three points on 1-of-7 shooting with three rebounds, four assists and a steal.e environments pretty much every away game we play... And toughness, that’s the t,hing we’re missing right now, that’s why we’re struggling to win the away games right now.”

Guard play still needs improvement: Andre Jackson, UConn’s captain and most dynamic player, was on the bench for a majority of the first half after quickly getting into foul trouble. He finished the game having played 21 minutes and totaled three points on 1-of-7 shooting with three rebounds, four assists and a steal.

“He was just overly hyped-up, his second foul, you can’t commit and take yourself out of the first half and I couldn’t play him in the first half because he’s such an aggressive player. I had no choice but to sit him and it’s really hard to sit 17 minutes in the first half and then try to find a rhythm,” Hurley said. “So, if we don’t get more than that from Andre we’re gonna struggle.”

UConn’s guard group as a whole struggled with the hounding Friars’ defense, shooting a combined 10-of-44 from the field (22.7%) and 2-of-17 from beyond the arc (11.8%).

Hurley’s return to Rhode Island was not the most welcoming: Hurley, who coached at the University of Rhode Island for six seasons before joining UConn for the 2018-19 season, made his return on Wednesday. His welcome, which began as a long collective boo, turned into an expletive-laden chant later on.

“It was nice, I mean driving in here – it was nicer driving in than it’s gonna be driving out,” he said. “But Rhode Island’s a special place for me. I spent some incredible years of my career here.”

Hurley had a record of 113-82 with the Rams and brought his final two teams to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.