STORRS – Dan Hurley prefers Liam McNeeley to be “Thor: God of Thunder” when he’s on the court for the UConn men’s basketball team. But for the next few weeks, Hurley and the Huskies will have to settle for “Aquaman.”

“He’s gonna go back in the pool and he’s gonna do his work in the pool,” Hurley said.

McNeeley, the Huskies’ second-leading scorer and one of the most impactful freshmen in the nation, suffered a high ankle sprain in the second half of the New Year’s Day win at DePaul. He will be spending most of the next few weeks rehabbing the injury in the team’s training pools.

“Not days, it’s gonna be weeks for him,” Hurley said. “Hopefully, if things go great … he’ll see maybe some of January, maybe the end of January, but it’ll be weeks, not days.”

When UConn was without captain Alex Karaban (concussion) for two games after the Maui Invitational, McNeeley was the one who stepped up, notably scoring 17 points in a top-15 win over Baylor. After Samson Johnson went down with a concussion early against Gonzaga, McNeeley had the best game of his young career with 26 points and eight rebounds.

Now UConn, dealing with its third injury this year, needs everyone to step up.

“There’s no other option, really. You’ve got to step up,” Karaban said. “This team, we’ve experienced it before, I’ve been out a couple games, Samson’s been out of a game, so it’s nothing new to us. We’ve just got to find other people to step up and not do what he does, but replace the production that he has, whether that’s rebounding, shot-making, just defending. We’ve all got to step up in a way.”

McNeeley was second on the team in scoring (13.6 points per game) to Karaban, second in rebounding (5.8) to Tarris Reed Jr., third in assists (2.6), third in 3-point percentage (37.9%) and first in free-throw percentage (85%).

“It’s an opportunity for the entire roster,” Hurley said. “Liam was doing more for his team than almost any other freshman in the country. What we were asking from him was (be a) two-way player, second-leading rebounder, a creator with a high usage rate, clutch shot-maker, closer in the second half of games. He had established himself not only as one of the better freshmen, but one of the best players in our league. So it’s a chance for Jaylin Stewart, it’s a chance for Jayden Ross, it’s a chance for Aidan Mahaney, it’s a chance for every other player just to play better. It’s a chance for us to defend and rebound better and win that way.”

The first sight of the McNeeley-less Huskies comes on Sunday, when the team returns to Gampel Pavilion for the first time in over a month to host regional rival Providence, which has struggled in its second year under coach Kim English.

The Friars (7-7) have their own injury situation to figure out regarding star Bryce Hopkins.

The senior forward was a thorn in the Huskies’ side two years ago, before the ACL injury that claimed most of his 2023-24 season and, seemingly, much of this year as well. Hopkins has only participated in three games for the Friars, contributing to wins over BYU and DePaul, with a loss at in-state rival Rhode Island sandwiched between. He hasn’t played since that Dec. 10 win in Chicago, and the Friars have lost three straight and seven of their last nine as his status remains a mystery.

“You treat it the way you would treat any injury situation, where you cover the lineup when he’s in the game at the four and at the five for them, he’s played both, and you prepare both ways. He’s so good of a player for you to not to do that, when he shows up out there that would be bad,” Hurley said.

Providence has struggled with or without Hopkins, who — alongside Big East Player of the Year Devin Carter, now a Sacramento King — managed to finished seventh in the league with a 10-10 record last season. The BYU win is the Friars’ only against a team ranked in the top 100 by KenPom, though they came close in losses to Oklahoma and St. John’s — just before being dominated, 78-50, at home against Marquette.

Other than Hopkins, the Friars have just two players averaging double-figure scoring in guards Jayden Pierre (12.6) and Bensley Joseph (11.3). Providence has also felt the effect of not having Josh Oduro (graduation) in the frontcourt as it relies on inexperienced 6-foot-10 freshman Oswin Erhunmwunse and 7-foot sophomore Christ Essandoko.

UConn’s goal will be to win the game, no matter how it gets done. And by the time McNeeley gets back, the team could be better off.

“This team now, with him out, it’s gonna have to find ways to win enough games and develop some people that could really enhance this team. And then, when we do get him back healthy at the end of the month into February, this could be a blessing for us. But it’s only a blessing if you can find a way to win enough games while he’s out, because now you’re developing people, developing your bench,” Hurley said.

“When he gets back healthy, he’s gonna be in a position to — obviously knock the rust off for a game or two potentially — but he’ll be returning to a stronger team as long as we’re able to continue to win in his absence.”

Break out the sweater

The Big East is honoring late St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca in what would have been his 100th birthday weekend, with commemorative pins on the sidelines. Hurley will be joining some of the league’s head coaches in paying tribute by wearing sweaters, like Carnesecca, born Jan. 5, 1925, famously did as he coached the Johnnies from 1973-92. Carnesecca, a basketball Hall of Famer, died on Nov. 30 at the age of 99.

UConn basketball on NBC

UConn is encouraging fans to wear blue for what will be the program’s second game ever broadcast on NBC. The last time the UConn men were on NBC was Feb. 17, 1996, when the Huskies beat Notre Dame for their 23rd win in a row — one of the program records still standing after the last two seasons of dominance.

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