Bristol — Part One of Dan Hurley's master rebuilding plan is devoted to infusing passion and energy into his basketball program.

Hurley's following the same steps during his first season at UConn as he did in previous head coaching stops at Rhode Island and Wagner.

If accomplishing his plan requires Hurley be a fire-breathing dragon on the sidelines, so be it.

"When you're taking over a team, in that first year you're trying to infuse a lot of energy, you're trying to infuse a lot of edginess, a lot of toughness, a lot of urgency, a lot of passion into your team," Hurley said. "When you don't have every single thing you need from a talent standpoint, you've got to stay in games by caring more than your opponent, playing harder, being scrappier.

"It's the first step in building a successful organization. ... That's the first thing you've got to learn before you can actually get good. That doesn't happen by itself. You've got to coach it every play, every day, every game. I knew that's what it was, because that's what the first year is like."

Hurley addressed the state of his UConn Huskies on Monday after joining ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski for an entertaining conversation at a breakfast charity event at the Boys and Girls Club of Bristol.

It's been a revealing first 10 games for the Huskies (7-3), who are 1-3 versus the marquee teams on their schedule, beating Syracuse and losing to Iowa, Arizona and Florida State.

The most recent loss, 79-71 to No. 11 Florida State on Saturday, still bothers Hurley. The Huskies are making too many mistakes to beat good teams.

Overall, Hurley is pleased with his team's effort and attitude.

"I'd say through the first 10 games we've played and coached with a lot of passion," Hurley said. "We've played really, really hard and competitively. We've got to continue to just get better at execution and actually playing better.

"Our margin for error this year when we play the better teams is going to be razor-thin. If we want to be more than just competitive against really, really good teams, then we've got to play not only with an enthusiasm and a competitiveness, but we've got to play with more discipline and play a cleaner game."

Hurley's high pressure defensive style clearly bothers opponents. Just ask Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, whose Seminoles had 22 turnovers.

But the Huskies are turning the ball over at an alarming rate, averaging 14 per game. That's a high number for a team that considers its backcourt the backbone. The high risk, low reward passes are driving Hurley crazy.

The solution, Hurley said, isn't backing away from being in attack mode. It's learning from mistakes and being more disciplined. The perimeter-powered Huskies are built for a faster, uptempo game, preferring to spend as few possessions as possible in halfcourt sets.

"It's film work and game experience," he said. "You just hope you can get that turnover number to around 10 or 11 per game. If we can get it to that level while still playing fast and aggressive, we're going to have a chance versus pretty much anyone we play from here on out."

The exam break this week will afford Hurley and his coaching staff time to evaluate the Huskies. Hurley went to watch incoming recruits James Bouknight and Jalen Gaffney play over the weekend. Bouknight has a chance to be a pro, Hurley said.

When the Huskies return to action, they'll have three games — Saturday against Manhattan in Storrs, Tuesday against Drexel in Hartford and Dec. 22 against defending national champion Villanova at Madison Square Garden in New York — before the Christmas break.

Expect Hurley to be his usual high intensity self on the sidelines.

Fed up and frustrated against FSU, Hurley jawed at the referees until earning a technical foul with about 40 seconds left. He said he wanted that one. Fighting for his team is just part of his master rebuilding plan. He says he'll tone down his sideline behavior once the program is in a better place and his culture is established.

"You're trying to establish a mindset, especially at a place like UConn," Hurley said. "Losing is not acceptable here. Sometimes it's understandable but it's never acceptable. So to instill that mindset, that starts at the top with me. I've got to set the tone in terms of my intensity and my urgency."

g.keefe@theday.com