“To be bulletproof is if you don’t have to rely on one player or two players to carry you offensively, we’ve got balance there,” Hurley said before again listing all of the areas in which his team has been elite. “If you’re consistent with doing all of those things you just don’t give your opponents a lot of places to go. And then if you have a shooting night like we did today, you could still be successful.”

Retooling the roster after losing five of its top eight rotation players from last year’s national championship team, UConn has five players averaging in double figures in one of, if not the most complex and unselfish offenses in the country. The Huskies have the fifth-best field goal percentage (49.8%), the highest assist/turnover ratio (1.91) and the second-best scoring margin of all 351 Division I programs.

Defensively, Big East Freshman of the Year Stephon Castle showed again Sunday how he’s able to use his size and physicality to swallow an opponent’s best player, and when he needs a rest, Hassan Diarra continues the task as a pest with his quick and active hands. Inside, Donovan Clingan – who set a new program-record for blocks in an NCAA Tournament game with eight on Sunday – is as menacing as they come.

“We’re having a blast, man. I enjoy being around these guys each and every day. We love each other, we love to see each other succeed and we’re doing an amazing job of having fun out there,” Diarra said.

“Just to be able to play with guys like this on the best team in the country on a stage like this, I feel like that’s what any freshman in the country would ask for,” Castle added. “It’s been super fun.”

No program has won back-to-back NCAA Tournament championships since Florida in 2006 and 2007. With a win in Boston on Thursday, in a rematch of last year’s title game against San Diego State, UConn would become the first reigning champion since those Gators teams to make it past the Sweet 16.

“We’ve been confident the whole year. I think last season changed how heavy we feel going into these games. Obviously you’re nervous and you know the history of NCAA champions not being able to get out of the first weekend,” Hurley said.

“But we’re different.”

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