STORRS — In April 2010, Dan Hurley stepped into the head coaching role for the Wagner Seahawks. From 2010-2012, Hurley compiled a 38-23 record, including a program-record 25 wins in his second season.
Fast-forward to Nov. 9, 2026, Hurley led his No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team to an 83-41 victory over his former team while coaching against one of players, Dwan McMillan. McMillan played under Hurley at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School from 2006-2008.
Silas Demary Jr. led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting. The senior recorded a career-high six steals, including a team-high +40.
Demary was one of five Huskies in double figures, joined by Braylon Mullins, Jayden Ross, Nik Khamenia and Na’jai Hines.
Hines received a majority of the workload among the centers, playing 24 minutes compared to Oskar Giltay’s 17 minutes. Giltay finished with six points on a perfect 2-for-2 from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Former UConn Husky Youssouf Singare made his return to Storrs as the Wagner center scored five points on Monday night. Singare was a member of the Huskies’ 2024 national championship team as well as the 2025 season. The 6-foot-11-inch senior from Mali played for High Point last season as it upset No. 5 Wisconsin in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Cam Estevez led Wagner in scoring with nine points, all of which came from beyond the arc. AJ Rodriguez finished right behind Estevez with eight points and seven rebounds.
Just like UConn’s first home game, they had a blistering hot start, jumping out to a 14-0 lead in just over four minutes. Nik Khamenia had 8 of the team’s first 14 points.
Khamenia’s 11 points all came within the first 10 minutes, as he hit his third triple of the half with 11:46 to go. However, after the Seahawks called a timeout at the midway point of the half, the sophomore limped off the court to the locker room. There was not an exact moment where the injury occurred, as he came up hobbling after a dead ball. Thirteen minutes after exiting the court, the Duke transfer was later ruled out for the remainder of Monday’s contest. Khamenia did not return to the bench either.
With the injury of the hot hand in Khamenia, Hurley quickly had to adjust. The solution was to stick with one of his backcourt anchors in Demary, which worked favorably well, as he finished the first half with 11 points on an efficient 4-for-7 from the field.
Connecticut leaned on their defense to recover from losing their starting forward. The team went on a tear in the first half as the Seahawks couldn’t seem to hold onto the ball overall in the first frame, turning the ball over 17 times. The culprit for Wagner was Taj Bryant, who coughed up the ball eight times. Demary had five steals in the first 20 minutes, which tied his career-high in steals in a game, where he eventually picked up his career-high sixth steal two and a half minutes into the second half.
The other half of the Connecticut backcourt, Mullins, had a shaky 2-of-10 shooting night. Despite the poor shooting, the sophomore tossed in five free throws and was +28 for the game.
The Huskies ended the night forcing 26 turnovers, with every UConn player seeing the court for the second time this season. Jacob Ross, who played his first career minutes against Gardner-Webb, recorded his first points as a Husky with a putback layup.
Both big men, Hines and Giltay, had three fouls apiece, which has been one of the concerns for Hurley and his coaching staff. Cleaning up the center’s discipline heading into an excruciating month of November cannot be overlooked.
The Huskies are back in action on Friday night as they take on Big 10 opponent, Ohio State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.