All signs pointed to this college basketball season being a rollercoaster ride full of starts and stops.

Never did the UConn men's basketball team anticipate what's transpired in just a short month.

The Huskies are in the midst of the program's second COVID-19 related shutdown and already had two non-conference games canceled and their Big East opener versus St. John's set for Friday postponed.

Hurley is trying to remain as upbeat and positive as possible for his players.

"Athletes and coaches are tough-minded people," Hurley said during a Zoom call with the media on Tuesday. "There's certainly a layer of frustration. The players are frustrated and the coaches are exasperated by the whole thing. But once we know officially when your first day back is going to be, I think we'll be in much better spirits. We won't be just swimming in uncertainty."

UConn's second pause from team activities, which started Sunday a month after the first shutdown, could end as early as this Sunday if test results remain negative, according to Hurley.

This time, UConn had two positive tests, one from a player and another from a non-Tier I individual. Tier I includes players, coaches, athletic trainers, medical and equipment personnel.

The Big East opener against St. John's has already been postponed. While Sunday's road trip to Georgetown is still on the schedule, it appears highly unlikely the Huskies will play that game. Playing at Providence on Dec. 17 seems like a possibility, judging from Hurley's comments.

"Obviously, the Georgetown game is Sunday," Hurley said. "Our first potential date back as a group potentially would be Sunday, I think, if we all got negative tests for the rest of the week. I guess we'll see where that goes."

Later, Hurley added: "If our first day back is Sunday, I'm not putting those guys on the court for a game."

Hurley's main concern right now is the emotional and mental well-being of his players. The Huskies are working out in small pods, mainly shooting. They can't meet in person with the coaching staff, so they get together as a team via Zoom.

The coaching staff sends players articles to read and podcasts to check out.

"You just try to keep the group together and keep their spirits up," Hurley said.

Unfortunately, they've dealt with the quarantine life before in November when the program was on pause for 14 days, ending on the 19th.

Hurley doesn't expect the shutdown to last as long this time.

"We're obviously not in that same 14-day quarantine or pause that we went through just a couple of weeks ago," Hurley said. "Depending on the test results with everyone in Tier I, that will determine whether it becomes seven days or as many as 10 days. That's with people that test negative. Those that test positive could potentially go a little long."

UConn (3-0) has hit a run of tough luck this season. The Huskies have played as many games as they've had either canceled or postponed.

It's hard to predict what lies ahead and what games will be played.

"Everything's really fluid right now," athletic director David Benedict said Tuesday. "We got notified really late on Friday night about the cancellation of the North Carolina State game (on Saturday). You just don't know when things are going to happen. We're going to try to play. I'm sure all the teams in our league are going to do everything they can to play as many games as they can.

"I'm sure when games are canceled or postponed for whatever reason, that our league office will do everything they can to figure out if there is an option. ... It's just hard to plan right now because of the fluid nature of the situation and the uncontrollable nature of what we're dealing with.

"So we'll plan and we'll do our best. And when we have to pivot, we'll pivot. And if there is no place to pivot, there's no place to pivot."

As challenging as things are at times, Hurley remains optimistic.

It will begin to feel like a season again once the Huskies restart practice and play games. Hurley is preparing to stir up his "cauldron of intensity."

His message to his team on Tuesday: Be ready.

"We're going to be out of this and we're going to be back to our business, and we're going to get hopefully several days to prepare for our first Big East game in several years and no one is going to care," Hurley told his players.

"All we're going to be judged on is our performance and our end results and no one is going to care. No one is going to write in a story of our season that COVID buried us in November and December. ... be mentally tough. Do the best we can staying in shape. Do the best we can staying sharp, skill-wise, working on the shooting machine, because in the end, when that ball goes up, we're going to have to deliver.

"And we're on a mission to play in March in the NCAA tournament. Whatever adversity we face, we've got to have enough success when we get back on the court to get back in the tournament that UConn belongs in and we're striving to play in this year. That's it."

g.keefe@theday.com