Matt Norlander is providing a Day 2 Notebook from the Maui Invitational, including interviews and anecdotes from the biggest story-makers at the event. This story will continually update deep into Tuesday night. LAHAINA, Hawaii — An opportunity in paradise has turned into a trip to hell for Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies.
The (not for long) No. 2 team in the country is officially reeling after losing two games in two days by a combined three points to unranked opponents in the Maui Invitational. "I just think we're all shocked.
We're all stunned," Hurley said as he walked to the team bus after UConn lost to Colorado 73-72 in the opening game of Tuesday's consolation bracket play at the Maui Invitational. "With the run that we've been on and how well we've played, the games are playing out way differently for us and we've got to be incredibly strong mentally right now." Coming into the week, UConn was 47-3 in its last 50 games.
Now it's in danger of falling out of the rankings. A day after blowing a 13-point lead against Memphis , Colorado steadily came back from an 11-point deficit to beat the two-time champs. The winning margin was provided by a tough right-handed runner from Andrej Jakimovski with 8.
5 remaining. The Macedonian beat UConn freshman Liam McNeeley . Jakimovski didn't have to worry about a center fronting in that moment because, for the second straight day, UConn had its top two bigs, Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr.
, foul out. Here's the winning play. If this .