As Dominant as Hurley Has Made the Program, the Road is still a Harsh Place

[BugsyCT]

Less than 24 hrs ago the hot stat was we tied the BE record for consecutive conference games won at 14, and we were unanimous #1. One bad game in a hostile environment against a top 20 team (that’s been our nemesis) and all of a sudden the hot stat is we haven’t beaten a ranked team on the road in 10 years. Whatever daily narrative the media needs to latch onto stirs the pot I guess.

Personally, I’ll take Nattys over regular season road wins against ranked teams in a heartbeat.

 

[Inyatkin]

This feels a bit like 1996, really. We were cruising that year, too, until we had a road game at Georgetown and Allen Iverson dunked all over us and knocked us down a few rankings.
Set us up nicely for a rematch in the Big East title game, of course.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

It's not crazy to think that the Big East might have 3 top ten teams to end the season. Kansas already has 5 road losses this year. It happens. My only goal is for Uconn to make the Final four and for AZ to not be there. (tickets and hotels would be insane if they make it).

 

[HooperScooper]

I am guessing that every team’s road record against ranked teams is pretty grim.

I saw a stat last week that ranked teams on the road this season against unranked teams were winning only about 40% of the time. Which was the lowest by far in the last 10 years (or something like that). Crazy stat which shows how hard it is to win on the road in college basketball. It was in a CBSSports.com article from Matt Norlander. I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[HooperScooper]

I saw a stat last week that ranked teams on the road this season against unranked teams were winning only about 40% of the time. Which was the lowest by far in the last 10 years (or something like that). Crazy stat which shows how hard it is to win on the road in college basketball. It was in a CBSSports.com article from Matt Norlander. I'll see if I can dig it up.

O.K. I was off with the stats. But the premise is the same. It's tough to win on the road. This was from 3 weeks ago.

The updated numbers are as follows: after UNC's loss at Georgia Tech, AP top-10 teams are now 25-29 on the road against unranked opponents this season. That represents a winning percentage of 46.3, which is 27.0 percentage points lower than the historical average in such matchups and 15.7 percentage points lower than the all-time worst win-rate in such matchups. So if it feels like top-10 teams are losing road games to unranked opponents more often than normal, it's because they are.

College basketball rankings: North Carolina, Tennessee slip in Top 25 And 1 after upsets create chaos

The Tar Heels lost to Georgia Tech and the Volunteers were defeated by South Carolina on a wild night

www.cbssports.com

 

[willie99]

The only true road game come March Madness would be vs AZ in Phoenix

Final Four or National Championship, and that can't be avoided

 

[UConniki]

Blame it on my cats. We have a 6” white Christmas tree in a table in the foyer entrance way into our house and my wife woke me up to tell me that the tree got knocked over and a couple of irreplaceable balls were shattered ( we have over $2,500 worth of ornaments on the tree so it could’ve been worse). And I turned to my son and said “ oh ….theres a game tonight and we put the tree back together and when DC picked up the second foul…. I just knew the outcome would be bad. We leave the tree up till the last game for both the men’s and women teams has been played.

 

[Tenspro2002]

O.K. I was off with the stats. But the premise is the same. It's tough to win on the road. This was from 3 weeks ago.

The updated numbers are as follows: after UNC's loss at Georgia Tech, AP top-10 teams are now 25-29 on the road against unranked opponents this season. That represents a winning percentage of 46.3, which is 27.0 percentage points lower than the historical average in such matchups and 15.7 percentage points lower than the all-time worst win-rate in such matchups. So if it feels like top-10 teams are losing road games to unranked opponents more often than normal, it's because they are.

College basketball rankings: North Carolina, Tennessee slip in Top 25 And 1 after upsets create chaos

The Tar Heels lost to Georgia Tech and the Volunteers were defeated by South Carolina on a wild night

www.cbssports.com

Top 10 vs. unranked being below .500 on the road is insane. With the exception of Seton Hall, we've actually done well to take care of business against the road against that middle tier of BE teams -- St. John's, Xavier, Butler, Nova.

 

[Chasm64]

Blame it on my cats. We have a 6” white Christmas tree in a table in the foyer entrance way into our house and my wife woke me up to tell me that the tree got knocked over and a couple of irreplaceable balls were shattered ( we have over $2,500 worth of ornaments on the tree so it could’ve been worse). And I turned to my son and said “ oh ….theres a game tonight and we put the tree back together and when DC picked up the second foul…. I just knew the outcome would be bad. We leave the tree up till the last game for both the men’s and women teams has been played.

That’s a lot of ornaments for a 6inch tree

 

[NEforceUConn]

The road is harsh, and I feel very good about our team. We could use this guy to suit up.

Maybe looks a tiny bit like AK. All AK needs to do is watch this movie and relax.

 

[dennismenace]

When we say the “road” is a harsh place - it is. No doubt. But I do think the home cooking has gotten worse over the years. We saw some last night at key moments in the game and then it snowballed. But other games this year like Purdue shooting 40+ FT to Northwestern 9, borderline ridiculous.

The NCAA tourney is the only thing that matters. It is the great equalizer, all the rest conference championship/BE Tourney/Road wins etc. eh, footnotes at end of the day.

imo depends on the ref crew. Some are good like last night's game which I think was pretty fair except for a Clingan foul which helped put him on the bench (so maybe not so good).

 

[dennismenace]

It didn't strike me quite the same, but it's because we lost to Louisville three times that season, all by double-digits. That one was the second loss, though by far the worst loss. (As many of you recall, we also lost decisively to SMU twice that year.) Creighton has UConn's number more than anyone else in the current Big East, but we beat them convincingly at home this season, and we should at least be able to hang with them at MSG if we meet again (most likely in the Big East final) next month.

I kept expecting us to come back last night, but we just couldn't hit a ton of makeable shots (though Spencer and Karaban weren't getting open looks at threes, to Creighton's credit). It never felt like we were coming back against Louisville in the 2014 massacre. They were in "name the score" territory.

Thanks for the reminder on the thrice beating that year. That was Pitino and the full court press we could not handle plus Montelz Harrell who was a beast on the boards.

 

[dennismenace]

Blame it on my cats. We have a 6” white Christmas tree in a table in the foyer entrance way into our house and my wife woke me up to tell me that the tree got knocked over and a couple of irreplaceable balls were shattered ( we have over $2,500 worth of ornaments on the tree so it could’ve been worse). And I turned to my son and said “ oh ….theres a game tonight and we put the tree back together and when DC picked up the second foul…. I just knew the outcome would be bad. We leave the tree up till the last game for both the men’s and women teams has been played.

I can see that. Bad mojo.

 

[UCan3]

imo depends on the ref crew. Some are good like last night's game which I think was pretty fair except for a Clingan foul which helped put him on the bench (so maybe not so good).

Yeah I agree overall I’ve seen much much worse and I am by no way pinning this on the stripes.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Thanks for the reminder on the thrice beating that year. That was Pitino and the full court press we could not handle plus Montelz Harrell who was a beast on the boards.

They were the only team in the country who had guards that could hang with ours. I think that was the Russ and Silva year? They ran and pressed even more than we did with those guys.

 

[TheChamps990411]

How many of those losses were under Hurley is my first question. If most are then he should be fired.

 

[Huskyforlife]

How many of those losses were under Hurley is my first question. If most are then he should be fired.

It’s getting harder to tell what’s sarcasm anymore.

 

[Hunt for 7]

How many of those losses were under Hurley is my first question. If most are then he should be fired.

Almost it is close to even 10 for Ollie 9 for Hurley.
2013-2014 streak starts after beating Memphis we lose to Cinn and Louisville
2014-2015 SMU
2015-2016 SMU
2016-2017 SMU and Cinn
2017-2018 Ollie’s last year we had four. Arizona, Wichita State, Cinn and Houston.
2018-2019 Hurleys first year none. But we only played Houston once that year at home they beat us.
So the remaining 9 were between the 2019-20 team and last night. 9 on Hurleys watch. He can tie Ollie when we play Marquette. So more than likely they will be tied at the end of this year.

 

[Leebo]

How many of those losses were we favored in, like against Creighton?

 

[TheChamps990411]

Almost it is close to even 10 for Ollie 9 for Hurley.
2013-2014 streak starts after beating Memphis we lose to Cinn and Louisville
2014-2015 SMU
2015-2016 SMU
2016-2017 SMU and Cinn
2017-2018 Ollie’s last year we had four. Arizona, Wichita State, Cinn and Houston.
2018-2019 Hurleys first year none. But we only played Houston once that year at home they beat us.
So the remaining 9 were between the 2019-20 team and last night. 9 on Hurleys watch. He can tie Ollie when we play Marquette. So more than likely they will be tied at the end of this year.

Great post. Two more and Hurleys out of here!! Lol!

 

[dennismenace]

They were the only team in the country who had guards that could hang with ours. I think that was the Russ and Silva year? They ran and pressed even more than we did with those guys.

That's right. That team was a model to me of what a real nightmare defense was. They had the guards, Slick Rick as the Conductor and an absolute monster on the boards (Harrell) who reminded me of Toraino Walker when he caught fire back in the early 90's. That was the worst dismantling of an opponent I think I have ever seen.

 

[CL82]

I notice you said 'Could' and not 'Will'. I think this article has us all spooked.

Or is it just that the game hasn't been played yet?

 

[navery12]

Great post. Two more and Hurleys out of here!! Lol!

I have bad news for you, his list was wrong because it's been 21 straight games. 10 for KO and now 11 for Hurley

 

[maxw]

As Husky fans know very well, year-round dominance doesn't translate to championships. We had teams that dominated BE and the country several years yet fell short of reaching final four, and then we had Kemba/Shabazz taking us to championships on teams that were not expected to. This year, we are in the dominant mode, let's see how it all ends up.

The consecutive road losses against ranked teams is an interesting stat, can't deny that, it's a fact. It would be nice to overcome that but it doesn't mean anything as far as championships go. You need to get and stay hot for 6 games to bring home the trophy.

 

[Tenspro2002]

To add some context, the following ranked teams lost on the road to unranked teams last night:

#12 Illinois @PSU (if you have a weak stomach, don't look at the play by play -- they blew a 12 point lead with 5:30 to go and a 10 point lead with 2:30 to go)
#16 Dayton @GMU
#17 Kentucky @LSU
#22 CSU @New Mexico

Only #8 Duke won at freefalling Miami.

It is hard to overstate how difficult it is to win on the road this year, for whatever reason.