Can struggling UConn men's basketball team turn things around? There's plenty of time for Huskies

We could go (and have gone) on and on about what ails the Huskies — point guard play, suddenly lax defense, suddenly awful perimeter shooting, not enough from the transfers. We could go (and have gone) on and on about what UConn needs to do — play Donovan Clingan more, switch up the lineup and/or rotations, play more zone, etc. 

Ultimately, it all comes down to the players and coaches doing a better job. It’s a cliché, and no one wants to hear things like “find our identity,” etc., but that’s really what it comes down to. Every player must look in the mirror and ask if he can rebound better, defend better, play harder. Likewise, the coaching staff must do more, whether it’s diversifying the offense, trying new things on defense, trying new rotations or even backing off a bit in practices.

There is one other score from Wednesday night, however, that came through about two hours after UConn’s loss to Seton Hall that could provide some context for UConn fans worried about their team.

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DePaul 73, Xavier 72.

Yes, DePaul, that perennial doormat, beat the No. 8-ranked Musketeers at home. The same Xavier team that ended UConn’s undefeated season on New Year’s Eve, which already feels like years ago. 

What does DePaul’s win have to do with anything? It is further proof that any team can get popped off on the road in the Big East. With Xavier’s loss, every Big East team has lost at least one conference road game, and we’ve still got two more weeks of January to play. 

It is also proof of the parity that highlights not only the Big East, but college basketball overall.

Last week, UConn lost twice but “only” fell nine spots in the AP Top 25 poll, from No. 6 to No. 15. Why? Because 13 other Top 25 teams also lost at least once. Two others (Wisconsin and Missouri) lost twice. Already this week, eight ranked teams (including No. 2 Kansas) had lost entering Thursday’s action.

It’s chaos out there. Especially on the road.

This is not to excuse UConn’s recent failings. The Huskies dropped three straight road games to ranked teams — Xavier, Providence, Marquette. If UConn was a championship-caliber team, it finds a way to win at least one of those games.

Then the Huskies lose at home to St. John’s. Then on the road to Seton Hall. OK, the Red Storm have some talent and have played better lately. Same with Seton Hall. 

But there’s just no way UConn can lose all five of those games. The Huskies led Seton Hall by as many as 17 points on Wednesday. Seton Hall led for exactly eight seconds.

The difference between the 14-0 UConn that blasted every foe (including No. 4 Alabama and No. 12 Iowa State, both on a neutral floor) and the 1-5 UConn of the past few weeks is hard to fathom. Again, we could list the reasons, but we already have.

Let’s look ahead. UConn isn’t in the position to overlook any opponent at this point. But if you’re looking for some sort of hope, look at the Huskies’ upcoming schedule.

Three of the Huskies’ next four games are against the bottom teams in the Big East (Butler, DePaul, Georgetown), whose combined league record is 6-19. UConn already clobbered Butler on the road last month. 

UConn’s remaining games against the top three teams in the league (Xavier, Marquette, Providence, combined league record of 20-5) are all at home, where the Huskies are 10-1. The Huskies get another shot at Seton Hall inside Gampel Pavilion, where they haven’t lost since those crowd-less COVID days three seasons ago.

Of course, there is a flip side to be taken from that DePaul score from Wednesday night. If the Blue Demons can beat Xavier at home, they can certainly beat UConn on Jan. 31. It took a Herculean effort from R.J. Cole last season for the Huskies to pull out a 57-50 slog-fest in Chicago. And, as has been abundantly obvious this season, R.J. Cole is no longer walking through that door.

Heck, if Georgetown’s current 28-game Big East losing streak is still intact by the time UConn heads to D.C. on Feb. 4, does anyone think the hungry Hoyas won’t be a tough out? They certainly were in Storrs on Dec. 20, when UConn needed second-half heroics from currently slumping Joey Calcaterra to pull out an 84-73 win.

Just about anything can happen in the Big East this season. Just about nothing good has happened for UConn so far. But there is plenty of time to turn things around. A first regular-season league championship since 2005-06, so coveted by Dan Hurley, seems a pipe dream at this point. But if the Huskies look at themselves in the mirror, get back to their “identity” (sorry), and figure things out, they can still make something out of this season.

Or, they can be the biggest underachieving UConn team since that 2011-12 squad that featured three future NBA first-round draft picks (Andre Drummond, Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier) and got popped in the NCAA tournament’s opening round.

david.borges@hearstmediact.com @DaveBorges