Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino provided all of the off-court intrigue, and their teams lived up to the hype each time they matched up last season, wherever the game was held.
Next season, they’ll run it back.
UConn’s road matchup against St. John’s will again be played at Madison Square Garden this upcoming season, according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, who reported that the game will be held on Sunday, Feb. 23. Rothstein also reported that UConn’s home game in the series will take place on Friday, Feb. 7.
Rick Pitino says next year’s UConn game at St. John’s will be played at Carnesecca Arena, not MSG
The Big East rivalry between UConn and St. John’s, Hurley and Pitino, was ratcheted up after the team’s met in the XL Center in late December. Pitino said later that week that he hoped to host the Huskies at Carnesecca Arena rather than Madison Square Garden, where UConn fans have consistently flooded in and taken over the crowd.
“It’s definitely not a joke. I have my reasons,” the Hall of Fame coach told the New York Post at the time.
UConn – 7-0 at MSG last season – went into the Garden in February, with star forward Alex Karaban out injured, and pulled away in the second half for a 77-64 win. After the game, Pitino walked back his comments, attributing the size of the sold-out crowd, and told CBS Sports: “We’ll be back here and will play them in this building.”
The teams did meet again in that building, for what was certainly one of the most entertaining games of the year.
The Big East Tournament crowd at the World’s Most Famous Arena was in for a third matchup between the two coaches in the tournament semifinal, and it did not disappoint. An incredible atmosphere turned up a notch with the introduction of a new character: a “short guy in a red blazer” who sat courtside.
The fan, later identified as Tom O’Grady, a friend of Pitino’s, stepped onto the court after Pitino was called for a technical foul, yelling at referees and, apparently, at Hurley. As he pointed out the fan to referees, Hurley received a technical of his own.
It appeared that Hurley was calling for the fan to be ejected, though he later said he convinced ushers and referee James Breeding, who called the technical, to let the fan stay – “Not because I thought he was a good guy, I thought it might be bad luck. Karma,” he said.
UConn went on to win the game, 95-90, behind 25 points and nine assists from Tristen Newton and proceeded to beat Marquette in the championship game before dominating the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
The Huskies have reloaded to compete for a third consecutive national championship – something that hasn’t been done since John Wooden’s UCLA teams in the 70s.
Pitino has continued building his roster as well, landing one of the top transfer portal targets in Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond, who has been a major thorn in the Huskies’ side for the last couple of years. The Johnnies also added former Utah guard Deivon Smith, North Texas forward Aaron Scott and 7-footer Vincent Iwuchukwu from USC, and are expected to be real contenders in the league this season.
UConn’s nonconference schedule was released last week, including a game against Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden, and the rest of the Big East schedule is expected to be announced soon.
