College Basketball

'Changed Our Identity': Dan Hurley Credits Silas Demary Jr. for UConn Defense

Updated Dec. 17, 2025 11:41 a.m. ET

Junior Silas Demary Jr. took his talents from Georgia to UConn in the offseason, and Huskies head coach Dan Hurley can't stop praising the guard's impact on their operation.

"That kid coming here changed our identity. He changed our defense completely just as being that point-of-attack defender that is a ballhawk," Hurley said about Demary after No. 5 UConn's 79-60 win at home over Butler on Tuesday night.

"Now, he's got to stay out of foul trouble. But what he's done for our defense, he's the single reason why it went from the dark s--- it was last year to now a defense that's going to have an opportunity to be good enough to win a championship."

Through 12 games, Demary is averaging 8.7 points, 5.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting 45.2/20.0/75.8. Demary, who averaged 13.5 points per game at Georgia last season, totaled 11 assists, six rebounds, one steal, one block and two points on Tuesday night.

This season, UConn's defense is first in the Big East in opponent field goal percentage (37.2%), opponent three-point shooting percentage (26.4%) and opponent rebounds (31.2 per game) and second in opponent points (61.7 per game). Last season, coming off back-to-back national titles before losing to eventual-champion Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, UConn was 10th in the conference in opponent three-point shooting percentage (35%).

UConn is 11-1 this season with four ranked wins on its resume: BYU, Illinois, Kansas and Florida. Its one loss was to now-No. 1-ranked Arizona.

Elsewhere for the Huskies, junior guard Solo Ball is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game; senior center Tarris Reed Jr. is averaging 14.6 points, seven rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game; redshirt senior Alex Karaban is averaging 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.8/43.1/84.2.

Next up for Demary and the Huskies is a road matchup against DePaul on Sunday (4:30 p.m ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).

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