How Dan Hurley’s jumbo set lineup help the Huskies take down Baylor

The Huskies’ head coach had to get creative with Alex Karaban unavailable.

Before UConn’s clash with No. 15 Baylor even made it to the first media timeout of the evening, the Huskies were in trouble. The Bears had quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead, while the Huskies looked a little flat on both ends, even with a sold-out crowd behind them.

So when Samson Johnson committed his first foul three minutes into the game, it wasn’t a surprise that Dan Hurley looked down the bench and called on Tarris Reed Jr. to get into the game. But instead of subbing out Reed for Johnson like he has done every time this year, Hurley mixed it up and put Reed in for Jaylin Stewart.

This gave the Huskies its first two true big men lineup — which I affectionate refer to as the jumbo set, like when football teams bring in extra linemen around the goal line, since the 2022-23 season. Hurley briefly rolled with Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan on the court together for short stretches, but wasn’t the biggest fan of it.

“We didn’t have much time to practice with it,” Hurley explained to Dave Borges two seasons ago. “It was not pleasing to the eyes, in terms of the alignments of everything out there.”

On Wednesday night, it went a little bit better. With Johnson and Reed together, the two were able better compete for rebounds against a sizable Baylor frontcourt of Torched Omier (6-foot-7, 240 pounds) and Josh Ojianwuna (6-foot-10, 230 pounds). The two didn’t clog up the paint, as Liam McNeeley was able to get downhill for an old-school three-point play, and the extra effort on the offensive glass resulted in a 3-pointer for Solo Ball to cut Baylor’s lead to one point early on.

Hurley didn’t lean on the jumbo set too much — Reed and Johnson shared the court for about 11 of the game’s 60 possessions — but was able to maximize his size and rebounding ability without Alex Karaban, who excels as a rebounder on both sides of the ball and change the course of the game on the way to the team’s first marquee win. Johnson is not a strong rebounder on his own, but Reed ranks in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. Reed had just five official boards on the night, but uses size, length and active hands to constantly tip balls out to teammates.

“For this game it was necessary,” Hurley said postgame. “Alex was out who plays the four so we were short a front court player that would player 30-plus minutes for us. They play big so much.”

As the old adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and Hurley may have unleashed a pretty effective lineup in Karaban’s absence. EvanMiya.com rated the Huskies’ jumbo set lineup of Reed, Johnson, McNeeley, Ball and Hassan Diarra as the 16th best out of 78 possible lineups.

The adjusted offensive efficiency of over 164 is spectacular, largely due to the fact that Johnson, who set the UConn record for field goal percentage last year, and Reed do an excellent job finishing around the rim. While the perimeter shooting takes a hit, Ball and McNeeley are respected enough shooters to provide plenty of spacing on their own.

Defensively, the rebounding component remains apparent, and the shot blocking is near elite with Johnson and Reed both able to alter shots. This lineup isn’t perfect though, as Solo Ball’s individual defense remains lackluster, and the propensity for fouling with this lineup is potentially greater than any other lineup the Huskies can put on the floor.

Fouls were still an issue on Wednesday, as Johnson fouled out for the fourth time in nine games. But Johnson was able to still play 22 minutes and post a plus/minus of plus-18 — an impactful number thanks to his 13 points, four boards and two blocks. His ability to stay on the floor longer made this lineup a possibility and allowed Hurley to pool all of the team’s size into one lineup to compete with a very physical opponent.

Against Texas on Sunday, it’s possible the jumbo set returns for a few minutes against a Longhorns front court that features old friend Art Kaluma and Kadin Shedrick down low. The Huskies could use Reed and Tandem in conjunction to outmuscle a Texas team that plays hard-nosed defense and does a good job defending shots inside the arc.

If Karaban is able to return for the Texas game, the jumbo set may be put on ice, but it’s fun to think about what the redshirt junior could do as part of jumbo lineup, where his shooting ability, rebounding skill and defensive versatility would make the Huskies a force on both ends. Per EvanMiya’s projections, a lineup of Diarra, McNeeley, Karaban and the two big men would be the best lineup UConn has to offer and would be in the 99th percentile of lineups across college basketball overall.

It may be a pie-in-the-sky scenario based on Hurley’s postgame comments, but as Karaban works back from his concussion and Hurley continues to tinker with rotations, it’s certainly a possibility this lineup sees some game action Sunday against the Longhorns.