Dick Weiss on College Basketball
PHILADELPHIA– Defending national champion Connecticut should be No. 1 for a second straight week in the AP Top 25 poll.
But Huskies coach Danny Hurley you smart enough to know how tenuous the position can be when you play in the Big East
“It’s the best league,” he said. “It’s most compelling, most formable league in the country,” he said. “It’s not the SEC, ACC. Every game is a struggle. It’s a test of manhood every time you step on the floor in the Big East. I’s UCF type games, stee; cage matches. You can throw elbows, it’s jiu- jitsu, It’s Muay Thai. It’s everything.”
It took two critical free throws by lead guard Tristan Newton to put the finishing touches on a 66-65 victory over ever improving, persistent Villanova Saturday night before a packed house of 20,000 at Wells Fargo Center. Newton’s free throws gave the Huskies a 66-62 lead with 4.6 seconds to play. When Nova sophomore guard Mark Armstrong launched a 40-foot three point shot that went in at the buzzer, he closed the gap and upset a lot of bettors who bet Connecticut as a three and a half point favorites.
Newton got the last laugh as he waved goodbye to fans in the Villanova student section who taunted him all night.
It felt really good, he said. “The student sections, they were loud, they were just trying to make noise at the end of the game. Safe travels to them going back home to the crib,” he said with a laugh.
Newton finished with 25 points, including 19 in clutch moments in the second half to lead the Huskies, who have won seven straight games. He made 8 of 17 shots and added six rebounds and three assists.
This was the culmination of another crazy Saturday in the Big East. Earlier, Marquette held off St. John’s 73-72, in the Garden and Creighton defeated Seton Hall, 97-94, in triple overtime at the Prudential Center in Newark. Three epic road wins.
Anything can happen in this league, which has at least six teams– the Huskies, Marquette, Seton Hall, Creighton, Villanova and St. John’s– with NCAA possibilities.
Connecticut may have lost three starters and future pros from last year’s national championship team Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson– but the Huskies are 17-2 overall and 7-1 in this dangerous league and are currently in first place, a game ahead of the Hall.
And Hurley continues to show why he is one of the best coaches in the country, a worthy successor to Jim Calhoun and member of his family, which is basketball royalty, starting with his dad, the legendary Naismith Hall of Fame high school coach Bob Hurley Sr. and his older brother, Duke All American point guard Bobby hurley, who is coaching at Arizona State.
He has shown he can win with any style and his team’s national championship character comes out in close games.
This may not be a vintage Connecticut team like the Huskies’ 1999, 2004 and 2023 previous national champions, but they are getting better now 7-2 sophomore center Donovan Clingan is recovering from foot surgery and was able to play 24 minutes against the Cats (11-7, 4-3).
The Huskies knew how to survive and advance against the oldest team in Division I. “It’s like playing against men,” Hurley said. “Last year was a transition year. But they’re back to being Villanova again. They added a lot of weapons in the off season who can hurt you.”
UConn won despite shooting under40 percent. Villanova started slowly, falling behind 11-0 at the start bit the Cats rallied to shoot 52 percent and forged a 58-58 tie before sophomore forward Alex Karaban– who had been struggling with his shot— made a clutch baseline three from the corner off a pass from Newton to take a three-point lead and the Huskies held on from there, making five of six from the line.
There were some tense moments. Villanova had two chances to extend the game in the final 30 seconds but Nova guard Justin Moore, was called for two offensive hooking fouls as he tried to turn the corner against a defense that limited Eric Dixon to one field goal and shut out three= point shooter Brendan Hausen.
“You’ve got to be able to win all type of games,” Hurley said. “You’ve got to be able to win these Big East battles where it’s super physical and the defense is always outstanding on both ends. to get a rebound you got to be willing to go to hell and back in a game like this.’
“We knew it was going to be this type of game, just the quality they bring. It was a gut check win. I think you saw a program that had confidence down the stretch.”
