STORRS – Dan Hurley prefers Liam McNeeley as “Thor: God of Thunder” when he takes the court for the UConn men’s basketball team. But for the next few weeks, Hurley and the Huskies will have to settle for “Aquaman.”

“He’s going to go back in the pool and do his job there,” Hurley said.

McNeeley, the Huskies’ second-leading scorer and one of the most impactful freshmen in the country, suffered a severe ankle sprain in the second half of the New Year’s Day win at DePaul. He will spend most of the next few weeks recovering from the injury in the team’s training pool.

“Not days, for him it will be weeks,” Hurley said. “Hopefully, if everything goes well… he’ll see maybe part of January, maybe the end of January, but it’ll be weeks, not days.”

When UConn was without captain Alex Karaban (concussion) for two games after the Maui Invitational, McNeeley was the one who came through, scoring 17 points in a top-15 win over Baylor. After Samson Johnson suffered an early concussion against Gonzaga, McNeeley had the best game of his young career with 26 points and eight rebounds.

Now UConn, dealing with its third injury this year, has to step up.

“Actually, there is no other option. “You have to improve,” said Karaban. “This team, we’ve been through this before, I missed a few games, Samson missed a game, so this is nothing new for us. We just need to find other guys to step up and not do what he does, but replace the production that he has, whether it’s rebounding, shooting or just defending. We all need to step up in some ways.”

McNeeley was second on the team in scoring (13.6 points per game) behind Karaban, second in rebounding (5.8) behind Tarris Reed Jr., third in assists (2.6), third in 3-point percentage ( 37.9%) and first in free throw percentage (85%).

“It’s an opportunity for the entire squad,” Hurley said. “Liam has done more for his team than almost any other freshman in the country. What we asked of him was to be a two-way player, to be the second best rebounder, to be a creator with a high usage rate, to be a good shot maker and to be a closer in the second half of games. He had established himself not only as one of the better rookies, but also as one of the best players in our league. So it’s a chance for Jaylin Stewart, it’s a chance for Jayden Ross, it’s a chance for Aidan Mahaney, it’s a chance for every other player to just play better. It’s a chance for us to defend and rebound better and win that way.”

The first look at the McNeeley-less Huskies comes Sunday when the team returns to Gampel Pavilion for the first time in over a month to host regional rival Providence, which has struggled in its second year under coach Kim English.

The Friars (7-7) need to sort out their own injury situation regarding star Bryce Hopkins.

The senior forward was a thorn in the Huskies’ side two years ago before suffering an ACL injury that took most of his 2023-24 season and seemingly much of this year as well. Hopkins only appeared in three games for the Friars, contributing to wins over BYU and DePaul, with a loss to in-state rival Rhode Island in between. He hasn’t played since his Dec. 10 win in Chicago and the Friars have lost three straight and seven of their last nine as his status remains a mystery.

“You deal with it the way you would deal with any injury situation: you cover the lineup when he’s in the game, at four and at five when he’s playing both, and you prepare both ways.” He’s such a good player, if you don’t do that when he shows up out there, it would be bad,” Hurley said.

Providence struggled with or without Hopkins, who – alongside Big East Player of the Year Devin Carter, now the Sacramento King – finished seventh in the league with a 10-10 record last season. The BYU win is the Friars’ only one against a team ranked in the top 100 by KenPom, although they narrowly lost to Oklahoma and St. John’s – just before being dominated at home by Marquette, 78-50.

Besides Hopkins, the Friars only have two players averaging double-digit points in guards Jayden Pierre (12.6) and Bensley Joseph (11.3). Providence has also felt the impact of not having senior Josh Oduro in the frontcourt as it relies on inexperienced 6-foot-10 freshman Oswin Erhunmwunse and 7-foot-2 sophomore freshman Christ Essandoko. is instructed.

UConn’s goal will be to win the game no matter how it’s done. And if McNeeley comes back, the team could be better off.

“This team needs to find ways to win enough games now that he’s gone and develop some guys that could really improve this team.” And then if we can get him healthy again at the end of February, that could be a blessing for us be. But it’s just a blessing if you can find a way to win enough games in his absence because now you’re developing guys and developing your bench,” Hurley said.

“When he’s healthy again he’ll be able to – of course possibly for a game or two – but he’ll come back to a stronger team as long as we can continue to win in his absence.”

Get out the sweater

The Big East is honoring late St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca with courtside memorial pins this weekend, what would have been his 100th birthday. Hurley will join some of the league’s head coaches in paying tribute by wearing sweaters, such as Carnesecca, born Jan. 5, 1925, who famously did so while coaching the Johnnies from 1973 to 1992. Carnesecca, a Basketball Hall of Famer, died Nov. 30 at age 99.

UConn basketball on NBC

UConn is encouraging its fans to wear blue for the program’s second game ever to air on NBC. The last time the UConn men were on NBC was on February 17, 1996, when the Huskies defeated Notre Dame for their 23rd straight win – one of the program records that still stands after the last two seasons of dominance.

What you should know

Website: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs.

Time: 14 o’clock

Records: No. 11 UConn: 11-3 (3-0 Big East), Providence: 7-7 (1-2)

Series: UConn leads 49-31

Last meeting: March 9, 2024 – UConn 74, Providence 60 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence

TV: NBC – Noah Eagle, Donny Marshall, Britney Eurton

Radio: Fox Sports 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman

Reading before the game: