UConn basketball’s fatal flaw that will cost it in Big East conference title race

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UConn basketball’s fatal flaw that will cost it in Big East conference title race

Jaren Kawada, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sat, Feb 14, 2026 ·

5 min read

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UConn 's three-peat bid fell short early in the 2025 NCAA Tournament , but Dan Hurley has his team right back in position to restart the train in 2026. However, despite what their record indicates, the Huskies ' season has been full of ups and downs, leaving them in a rocky position with the Big East Tournament on deck.

UConn has surprisingly struggled in Big East play since rejoining the conference in 2020. They have clinched just one regular season title and one conference tournament championship, which is much less than their overall success suggests.

While the Big East Tournament is not UConn's primary goal, a team as dominant as the Huskies are in the regular season should be more successful in the postseason. Fortunately, Hurley's team is on track for its best finish since the 2023-2024 season, when it last won the conference tournament and a national championship.

With just two losses in its first 25 games, UConn is quietly having its best season of Hurley's eight-year tenure, and one of the best in basketball program history. They are a level ahead of the Big East field on paper, with St. John's being their only threat in the postseason tournament.

But beyond the results, UConn has not been as dominant as in years past. The Huskies have won nearly half their conference games by single digits, including two overtime victories as double-digit favorites. Considering the disappointing state of the 2025-2026 Big East conference, those results do not emulate those of a future national champion.

UConn has a well-rounded roster and continues to produce wins , regardless of how they look. Yet, if Hurley wants his second Big Ten Tournament title in three years, the Huskies have a lot to shore up inside.

UConn has not evolved since November

Despite its subpar Big East results, UConn boasts one of the most impressive resumes in the country on paper. Only a handful of other teams have more wins against top-25 opponents.

UConn is an impressive 6-2 against Quad 1 opponents overall, according to the NET Rankings, but almost all those victories came early in the season. While still undeniably impressive, the veteran Huskies benefited from facing younger foes at that point in the calendar. Hurley's team has not changed much since November, while each of Illinois , Florida , Kansas and BYU is fundamentally different from the teams they were three months ago.

The Huskies were fortunate to catch the Gators and the Illini early in the season, before either team had taken form. Keaton Wagler , who has been one of the best scorers in the country since mid-January, managed just three points in the Madison Square Garden neutral-site game, which was just his eighth career college basketball game. UConn would not be fortunate enough to catch that same break if it faces Illinois a second time.

UConn also caught BYU and Kansas early, before star freshmen AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson got their feet beneath them. Dybantsa still put up 25 points in his fourth college basketball game, but UConn caught Kansas without Peterson.

Both BYU and Kansas, now having fully acclimated to playing around their star freshmen, are completely different teams, while UConn has not changed much in the three months since.

UConn's stagnant progression has shown up in Big East play, where it continues to sneak out close victories over subpar opponents. After getting out to a 4-0 conference record, six of the Huskies' last nine wins have been by 10 points or fewer.

Big East foes are catching up with UConn's game, an issue that will only increase tenfold once the postseason tournament begins.

UConn can struggle to defend teams with size

UConn has size on its roster, led by returning forwards Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. Karaban and Reed lead a paint attack that has the Huskies 44th in the country in points in the paint and 68th in opponent points in the paint, per CBB Analytics.

The season-long numbers are great, but they come with a grain of salt. UConn has not faced much size all season; none of its Big East foes hold a candle to the physicality the Huskies will face in the postseason.

UConn owns massive Quad 1 wins over Florida, Illinois, BYU, and Kansas, but it struggled to handle each team's physicality. Reed, the Huskies' most physical frontcourt player, found himself in foul trouble against Florida and Illinois, which nearly cost them both games.

Fouling has been an issue for Reed all season. The senior has three or more fouls in 12 of his first 20 games in 2025-2026, often forcing Dan Hurley to turn to his shallow bench quicker and more often than he would like.

Aside from Reed, four of UConn's top five scorers do their best work from the perimeter. That lack of physicality led to just eight free-throw attempts against Kansas, 17 against Illinois, 16 against Florida and 12 in its recent loss to St. John's. They won three of those games, but it is exceedingly more difficult to win games in March with fewer than 20 trips to the charity stripe.

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