Two coaching philosophies collided with very different results. Dan Hurley has reluctantly embraced the transfer portal, adding key pieces like Silas Demary Jr. and Malachi Smith. That approach paid off as UConn rolled past Marquette 73-57 to move to 14-1. Shaka Smart has stayed traditional and sits at 5-10, yet Hurley still believes Marquette’s patience will bring a turnaround.

“Shaka is just a man with values and principles. He’s got a code, and he’s an incredible winner. He took VCU to the Final Four, the consistent success at Texas, and then what he’s done at Marquette,” he said after the Marquette game.

“If you just take this year and what he’s done at Marquette, as good a coaching job as anyone’s done the last couple years in the country.”

Since Shaka Smart arrived at Marquette back in 2021, the Golden Eagles have made the NCAA Tournament each season. They have rebuilt into Big East contenders time and time again. They haven’t had the national success of UConn or necessarily made the headlines of a Creighton or St. John’s in recent years, but Marquette has historically meant business. 

This season, they are in transition after losing significant talent in Kam Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell. To rebuild without a transfer portal is a slow process, and they are struggling this season with a losing record and are 119 on KenPom. Despite this slow start, Hurley thinks they can still recover and come out on top of the Big East sometime in the near future. 

“He’s going to build his program the way he wants to build it,” he said. “They won’t stay where they are. They’re going to win games the rest of the way, and I promise you Marquette will be back at the top of this league and at the top of college basketball in short order.”

Now, that’s a bold prediction considering where they currently stand. It seems impossible to bounce back to the top from a 0-4 start in conference play. However, their losses have been to top teams in UConn, Creighton, Seton Hall, and Georgetown, and the schedule will get easier. As this team gains confidence, they can continue on that upward graph once the momentum arrives. 

They can still get back to 0.500, but getting back to the top would require a Herculean effort. However, this can be a good step towards effectively rebuilding this team. Since Smart tends to retain most of his pieces, he could build a contender next season with a solid class of top freshmen.

They have also been unlucky so far, as their luck rating on KenPom is -0.130, which is the 359th most unlucky team out of 365. He is also dealing with some friction behind the scenes with Zaide Lowery leaving the program mid-season. Lowery started in nine of his 11 appearances in 2025-26, contributing 8.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

There were some rumors of an altercation, but Smart characterized them as “1000% inaccurate”. As Smart works to revive Marquette from the dead, Dan Hurley will look to perfect his UConn side.

Dan Hurley Lists Various Complaints Despite Marquette Win 

The No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team never trailed in the win over Marquette. Solo Ball led the scorers with 17 points, grabbing a season-high 8 rebounds. Silas Demary Jr. battled through foul trouble to score 14 points while Tarris Reed Jr. pitched in with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Huskies held Marquette below 33% from the floor and finished +12 on the glass in the win. In a near-perfect win, Dan Hurley still wants this side to improve on a few aspects of the game. 

“Today was a game where we should have shot 50 percent from the field,” Hurley conceded. “I felt like we got good enough looks from three that there should have been double-figure threes made.”

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That was not all, as he further compared his 2024 team and instructed to limit turnovers. “The ’24 team was number one in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. We gotta get the turnovers down,” he said. 

On the day, they conceded 11 turnovers, which is exactly their average coming into this game. It ranks 89th in the country. They shot 43% from the field, down from their season average of 48.4%. Despite winning the battle on the boards and shooting, he emphasized consistency. 

“We waited a half to offensive rebound, we offensive rebounded the heck out of the ball in the second half. You can’t wait a half to offensive rebound, that’s a part of your offense,” he said. “The free-throw shooting was sketchy again, and I thought we left points on the board not finishing at the rim.”

Dan Hurley is building a contender. That means getting as close to perfection as possible. The likes of Michigan, Arizona, Iowa State, and a few other teams are statistically playing better. The Huskies currently rank No.7 on KenPom and No.8 in the NET rankings.

“Teams get better throughout the year. We’re gonna get a lot better. We’re not gonna stay the way we are, we’re gonna improve a lot,” he concluded. The positive for UConn is the lack of competition in the Big East. No team seems to be able to compete against UConn, which gives them more room to experiment and improve.