Any season that falls short of expectations is considered at the very least a bit disappointing, no matter what a team accomplishes during the regular season.

Put UConn in that category. Coach Dan Hurley set some lofty goals prior to the first jump shot of the 2021-22 college basketball season.

• Win the Big East regular season title.

• Win the Big East tournament title.

• Earn a second straight NCAA tournament bid.

• Take the next step and win a March Madness game.

The Huskies failed to accomplish three of those four. They placed third in the league, reached the conference tournament semifinals, and were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament all for the second straight year.

Obviously, they did accomplish qualifying for the NCAA tournament, pulling that off in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011 and 2012.

So, basically, they had a strong regular season, winning the most overall (23) and conference games (13) in Hurley's four years in charge, but a disappointing postseason. Hurley is responsible for two of UConn's four first-round losses since 1990. The Huskies are 18-4 in their openers since that date.

Hurley was in no mood to evaluate his team's season after Thursday's crushing 70-63 loss to 12th-seeded New Mexico State in Buffalo, N.Y.

"It's hard to sit up here after what this group has done for the

“If you are going to be judged by just one game and in a single elimination tournament where pretty much anybody can lose to anybody, if that is the only way that your season is validated, then I’ll allow the media or other people to do that.”

UCONN COACH DAN HURLEY

program the last couple of years," Hurley said from the post-game podium at the KeyBank Center. "I don't want to talk overall about the big picture of what this loss means. I think these guys have had a couple of really, really good seasons to get this program back in a really good spot, but we played poorly in the NCAA tournament.

"If you are going to be judged by just one game and in a single elimination tournament where pretty much anybody can lose to anybody, if that is the only way that your season is validated, then I'll allow the media or other people to do that.

"I love this team. I loved coaching this team. It's a special group of guys. They took a lot of big steps. Obviously, there are steps that we need to continue to take."

A culture change

Hurley deserves a great deal of credit for rebuilding the program since his arrival in Storrs in 2018. He's instilled a relentless work ethic, built a winning culture, and increased the team's talent pool by scoring major recruiting victories.

The Huskies finished the season as a Top 25 program, residing at No. 21 in the final Associated Press poll, and had many memorable moments during the regular season, including beating Auburn in double overtime and finally knocking off Villanova. They were competitive in every single one of their 10 losses, with only one coming by more than eight points.

Strides were made

There were also some individual gains, as R.J. Cole and Adama Sanogo developed into All-Big East first team picks. Freshman Jordan Hawkins was named to the league's all-freshman team. Sophomore Andre Jackson made great strides.

When the Huskies stuck to their identity of tenacious defense and rebounding, they were tough to beat. But their offensive issues were too much to overcome at times. They averaged just 62 points in three postseason games, including Big East and NCAA tournament action.

Hurley's concerns during the preseason about consistent quality guard play proved to be spot on.

Only Cole could be counted on to regularly deliver and possessed the ability to take a defender off the dribble and create his own shot. He scored 20 points against New Mexico State but had little help.

Hurley overrated his team's depth, which he called a strength entering the season. By March, his rotation dipped to basically seven players.

UConn continues to struggle against three other teams in the top four in the Big East. In the last two seasons, the Huskies are 1-10 versus that upper tier group, including conference tournament results.

So, Hurley clearly still has work to do for his program to take the next step and achieve his lofty goals.

The Huskies could lose three of their four starters.

Choices for Cole, Martin

The UConn careers of starting forward Isaiah Whaley and key reserve Tyler Polley, two fifthyear players, are over. Cole and starting guard Tyrese Martin each have a year of eligibility left but have yet to announce their plans.

Cole, who averaged a team-high 15.8 points, would be the biggest loss, as there's no clear replacement for him at point guard on the roster. The Huskies also would miss Martin's production (13.6 points, 7.5 rebounds) and toughness.

Reserves Jalen Gaffney, Akok Akok, Samson Johnson, Rahsool Diggins and Richie Springs made little impact, but all could return. Akok, a redshirt junior, missed extended time due to an ankle injury and never found his groove. Gaffney struggled and averaged a career-low 12.8 minutes as a junior. Johnson, Diggins and Springs saw very limited action.

Hawkins showed the most potential among the bench players, scoring in double figures seven times but averaged just 5.8 points per game. A concussion sidelined him for the final four games.

The coaching staff will be busy on the recruiting trail to try to add talent, whether that's from the high school ranks or transfer portal.

Guard Corey Floyd, Jr., and forward Alex Karaban, who enrolled at UConn last fall and practiced with the team during the season, will join the Huskies, as will talented big man Donovan Clingan, the two-time Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year out of Bristol Central.

Cole has faith that the Huskies have a bright future with Sanogo and Jackson anchoring the team.

"They're very talented, and I think they're going to do very big things in this program and help this program continue to make the rise that it needs to," Cole said.