Dan Hurley high-fives Hassan Diarra (10) after UConn defeated St. John’s to advance to Big East tournament championship. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)
Heavyweight fight? Check. Two national champion coaches, whose mutual respect for one another may have gotten lost in some of the sniping in the heat of the moment? That was there, too. Double technicals assessed to both of said coaches? Mark that down. Surviving a war that included a fan allegedly taunting Dan Hurley for most of the first half? Yup.
Aside from all the pomp and circumstance, there was also the substance on the Madison Square Garden court as the Huskies held off a game St. John’s team that made its case as a surefire NCAA Tournament squad, 95-90, and also the heckling of a fan later revealed to be a personal friend of Pitino’s from his time at Louisville. The fan drew Hurley's ire shortly after lead official James Breeding rang Pitino up for a technical foul when arguing a foul called against St. John’s center Joel Soriano. Hurley called Breeding’s attention over to his tormentor, only to receive a technical of his own for his efforts.
“There was a short guy in a red blazer that was on the court yelling at the refs,” Hurley recalled. “Then he started yelling at me and moving in my direction, so I was just kind of pointing out to James that he was behaving worse than Coach Pitino. I was really just trying to help the officials — they might not have seen it — and then I got a technical for pointing out more increasingly aggressive fans.”
But rather than have the fan removed from courtside, Hurley revealed he told security he wanted him to stay in the building.
“I thought it might be bad luck,” he quipped. “Karma.”
Back to the happenings on the floor, the steak behind the sizzle was pretty good, as UConn picked up right where it left off in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Xavier, shooting 57 percent from the floor and needing every bit of it to survive Rick Pitino and the Red Storm.
“We feel like we’re just so unselfish offensively,” Alex Karaban would say after his team registered 23 assists on 31 made baskets, this coming after the Huskies tallied 29 helpers on 35 field goals against Xavier. “We just continue to move the ball and continue to pass up good shots for great shots. That’s what makes our team so special.”
“They have a great basketball team,” Pitino later conceded. “You get behind on them and they can burn you, certainly. They’ve built a hell of a program from Jim Calhoun on. Connecticut is Connecticut, and they’re just a machine. They can beat you 100 different ways. They have open shots that are really good, but they go after a better shot that’s great. That’s the makings of a great offensive basketball team because they’re always looking for a better shot for their guys, and you can learn a lot.”
UConn may be a complete team to its counterparts within the Big East, but Hurley's comments Friday revealed the finished product is still on the horizon. The scent of unfinished business still permeates the locker room in Storrs, and the close loss to Marquette in the semifinals of this tournament a year ago still eats at Hurley, even if he neglected to look back like he did at media day in October.
“I’ve got guys with me that are looking for that last jewel in the quadruple crown,” he said. “Get the regular season Big East (championship), Final Four, national championship, and now the Big East tournament. I know that’s what Tristen, Alex and Cam are all shooting for, and we want to try and deliver.”
“Every time we take the court, we obsess over what we’ll achieve next. Obviously, the Big East tournament champion is a chance to experience what it feels like in terms of confetti and cutting down nets, and winning that third championship that we’ve strived for. We wanted the (Empire Classic), we wanted the regular season. We’ve got three ahead of us that we’re trying to get, and tomorrow, we’re gonna treat it like it’s the Super Bowl.”
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