As UConn ransacked its regular-season schedule last year with double-digit victory after double-digit victory behind a suffocating press defense that consistently created easy buckets on offense, Geno Auriemma often worried about his team’s half-court offense.

“So much of our offense is coming from our defense and I don't know that that's something that you're gonna be able to count on every night,” he said after the third game of the season, a win over Loyola Maryland. “I like the fact that we can, we can run people out there and keep everybody fresh, and then again, your offense is going to look lousy when you're running that many people in and out of there.”

Those problems were never fixed and eventually caught up with the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament. Their three lowest point totals came in their final three games: 63 against UNC, 70 versus Notre Dame and just 48 in the loss to South Carolina, their worst output since managing 49 points in the 2022 national title game, also to the Gamecocks.

That wasn’t a coincidence. At the regionals, UConn intentionally pulled back its press and slowed the games down. In the Sweet Sixteen, the Huskies believed they would find enough points to win a rock fight. They were right. With the Fighting Irish, UConn wanted to contain Hannah Hidalgo, so it sat back on defense and threw all its attention at the star point guard. Again, it worked.

But it also exposed the Huskies’ half-court offense. They consistently settled for too many rushed and contested looks — “chaotic” is how Auriemma described it. They also couldn’t make a shot from deep, combining to go 10-37 (27.0%). Sarah Strong and Blanca Quiñonez combined for 78 points over the two games. The rest of the team managed just 55.

When UConn had to rely on its half-court offense to win, it went from an unstoppable juggernaut to a shell of itself. Fixing that has to be a top priority in 2026-27.

Monday’s exhibition against Texas will provide the Huskies with the perfect opportunity to measure their half-court offense against a stifling defense — with no repercussions after the final buzzer sounds.