UConn has “sexy” look heading into Big East tourney

 

By Ken Davis

The bracket for the Big East Conference tournament at Madison Square Garden is set. The final piece of the puzzle was locked in late Saturday night when Marquette recorded its victory over Xavier.

Just getting to championship week has been a major accomplishment for the Big East and the rest of college basketball. Everyone survived the “irregular season” – as UConn coach Dan Hurley calls it – and the pandemic postseason experiment is about to begin. What happens between now and the Final Four in Indianapolis remains to be seen.

For the Big East, it all tips off Wednesday with three games  in New York City. No. 8 Georgetown plays No. 8 Marquette. No. 7 Xavier takes on No. 10 Butler. And No. 6 Providence meets No. 11 DePaul. The winner of the DePaul-Providence game advances to the quarterfinal round Thursday against No. 3 UConn.

Who’s the favorite? It could be No. 1 seed Villanova, the school that has been the dominate Big East player during UConn’s exile to the American Athletic Conference since 2013. Or it could be No .2 Creighton, the other Big East team that has been a fixture in the Top 25 this season.

But, honestly, no one is hotter and no one is playing better right now than the UConn Huskies. Hurley’s team has won four straight and six of its last seven. With victories over Seton Hall and Georgetown last week, the Huskies find themselves solidly situated for their first NCAA bid since 2016.

“All of a sudden we’re a sexy pick to make a big run here in March, when no one thought we were any good not too long ago,” Hurley said Saturday.

Those were Hurley’s words, and no one else’s, after the Huskies dominated Georgetown 98-82 at Gampel Pavilion.

The Big Sexy. It’s not just for hair any more. The Big Sexy has come to college basketball.

The Huskies, led by first-team All-Big East selection James Bouknight, are penciled into most “bracketology” predictions as a No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the NCAA field. Three wins and a Big East championship at MSG would likely move UConn to a No. 7 seed or higher, depending on who they play.

That’s heady stuff for these Huskies. None of Hurley’s players have had the experience of a Big East tournament or reaching The Big Dance.

“We’ve got to have good preparation,” Hurley said, “and not drink the Kool-Aid, because now we’ve gone from, ‘Is this team a bubble team?’ to now, all of a sudden, ‘Final Four sleeper.’ So just don’t drink the Kool-Aid. People haven’t praised a lot of our season, we’ve had a lot of detractors, and I love that. We have a chip on our shoulder, a real edge to us. That’s our mentality.”

UConn fans have been dreaming of this since it was announced the Huskies were returning to the Big East. But this will be an irregular Big East tournament too. Thanks to COVID-19, the crowds will be limited to family and friends in the traveling parties of the schools.

That means UConn fans won’t be boarding Metro North and Amtrak trains for the pilgrimage to The Big Apple. The Huskies won’t have the experience of playing before rabid UConn fans occupying every corner of Madison Square Garden.

But they’ve grown accustomed to that by now

“We’re just clicking right now, playing real good basketball,” UConn’s Tyler Polley said. “We’re just going to play as hard as we can and make the most out of March.”

UConn’s appeal as a favorite is made stronger by the challenges faced by Villanova and Creighton. As quickly as the Huskies cemented their status, Villanova’s world has been turned upside down. Senior Collin Gillespie, the starting point guard for the Wildcats the past three seasons, was lost for the season with a torn MCL suffered against Creighton on Wednesday. He was replaced by Justin Moore, who suffered a sprained ankle in the first half of a loss to Providence Saturday. Moore was expected to get an MRI after not returning to the game.

“It was pretty severe,” coach Jay Wright said after the game.

Creighton defeated Butler 93-73 Saturday without coach Greg McDermott, who was suspended for racially insensitive remarks he made to his players in a locker room talk after a loss to Xavier on Feb. 27. But it is obvious the  issue isn’t going away quickly after players commented Saturday. The lingering impact for tournament games remains to be seen.

Villanova, Creighton and UConn are considered locks for the NCAA field. The rest of the Big East field will be battling for renewed life in New York and that includes No. 7 Xavier, hanging on by a three as one of the last teams in the bracket and possibly headed to the First Four.

If Xavier gets past Butler in the first round, it would face Creighton in the quarterfinals. The winner of that game would likely meet UConn in the semifinals. But Providence, with a history of playing well in New York, can’t be overlooked.

In the other half of the bracket, No .4 St. John’s and No. 5 Seton Hall will battle in the quarterfinals. Both can be viewed as potential NCAA teams but they need extended runs at The Garden. Saturday in Queens, Seton Hall bolted to an 18-0 lead only to see St. John’s rally to win 81-71.

Seton Hall is going through an epic collapse – just the opposite of UConn.

“Obviously we’re disappointed where we are after these last four games,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said after the game. “So many positives and I’m really proud of how hard these guys work and how hard they’ve played. We just haven’t played very well over these last four games. We haven’t been able to put together a consistent 40 minutes.

“I’ll look at tweaking the starting lineup [for the Big East tournament] and what we’re doing with our bench minutes.”

Seton Hall isn’t the only team with problems to solve. Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing left Storrs scratching his head after the loss to UConn.

“We got a royal ass-kicking,” Ewing said.

Now the drama moves to Broadway. The past has shown that anything can happen there.

BOUKNIGHT, SANOGO RECEIVE BIG EAST HONORS

The Big East announced its All-Conference teams Sunday and UConn sophomore  James Bouknight and freshman Adama Sanogo were honored. Bouknight, leading UConn in scoring with a 20.2 average despite a mid-season elbow injury, was named to the All-Big East first team. Sanogo, averaging 6.9 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 56.3 percent from the field, received All-Freshman team honors.

Here are the awards announced Sunday:

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM+

Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton, G, Jr., 6-2, 180, Hamilton, Mass.

James Bouknight, Connecticut, G, So., 6-5, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Julian Champagnie, St. John’s, G-F, So., 6-8, 220, Brooklyn, N.Y.

*Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall, F, Sr., 6-11, 240, Tbilisi, Georgia

*Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova, F, So., 6-9, 230, Kansas City, Kan.

Collin Gillespie, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-3, 190, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM

Damien Jefferson, Creighton, F, Sr., 6-5, 220, East Chicago, Ind.

David Duke, Providence, G, Jr., 6-7, 210, New York, N.Y.

Nate Watson, Providence, F, Sr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, Va.

Zach Freemantle, Xavier, F, So.,6-9, 225, Teaneck, N.J.

Paul Scruggs, Xavier, F, Sr., 6-4, 196, Indianapolis, Ind.

ALL-BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION

Denzel Mahoney, Creighton, G-F, Sr., 6-5, 220, Oviedo, Fla.

Jahvon Blair, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6-4, 190, Brampton, Ont.

Jermaine Samuels, Villanova, F, Sr., 6-7, 230, Franklin, Mass.

BIG EAST ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

*Chuck Harris, Butler, G, 6-2, 190, Washington, D.C.

Adama Sanogo, Connecticut, F, 6-9, 240, Bamako, Mali

*Dawson Garcia, Marquette, F, 6-11, 235, Prior Lake, Minn.

*Posh Alexander, St. John’s, F, 6-0, 190, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Colby Jones, Xavier, G, 6-5, 195, Birmingham, Ala.

*Denotes unanimous selection

+Due to a tie in the voting, an additional position was added