UConn opened the Big East Tournament with a comfortable win over Xavier. The Huskies needed a positive performance after ending their regular season with what Hurley called “a choke job” at Marquette. But a team that has given UConn much more trouble awaits in the next round.
Georgetown is an unlikely semifinal competitor as the 11-seed in the tournament. After pulling off two upsets, Ed Cooley’s squad surely believes it can strike a third time against a team it has challenged twice.
“We're going to play one of the best teams in America,” Cooley said Thursday night. “They have earned that right…Danny has done an incredible job building that program back to where it's supposed to be.”
Georgetown had UConn within an inch of its life in Washington DC in their first regular-season meeting in January. The Huskies were up as many as 10 in the first half before letting the lead slip away and briefly trailing in the second half.
The game was tight down the stretch, but UConn hung on after an airball on a Hoya three-point attempt that could have tied the game in the final seconds.
In the return visit to Gampel Pavilion, Georgetown nearly ruined the Huskies’ Valentine’s Day with another closer-than-expected battle that came down to the wire. It was “a real shitshow at the end,” according to head coach Dan Hurley. His squad simply refused to close that game out, but went ahead and did it anyway.
Georgetown didn’t build much momentum from those near-victories. The loss in DC was part of a six-game losing streak, while the loss in Storrs was the second of a seven-game losing streak that saw the Hoyas descend to the bottom of the league standings.
And yet, Georgetown beat Providence 80-79 in their regular-season finale before taking down 6-seed DePaul and 3-seed Villanova in the Big East Tournament.
“We lost 10 games in the last minute and 37 seconds in the Big East,” Cooley said. “It wasn't a matter of we weren't good enough, it was we just had to find a way to win…I'm really proud of our resilience and character of the group.”
In both tourney games, they overcame an early deficit before pulling away late and winning rather comfortably.
“Back-to-back days, I think our defense, once again, was tough,” Cooley said. “I thought Isaiah Abraham's defensive length on some of their guards was a little bit disruptive. We wanted to make this game a tough twos game as they're one of the better three-point shooting teams in our league.”
Big man Julius Halaifonua scored 21 points to lead the way against Villanova. Another Hoya big, Vincent Iwuchukwu, has also been a factor against the Huskies in previous meetings.
The Huskies have their own low-post duo that will look to contend with those two in the paint. UConn has not rebounded at its best in two games against the Hoyas. Tarris Reed Jr., coming off his fourth straight double-double, will need to step up once again.
“[Reed Jr.]’s one of the better bigs in the country. Last time I checked we had a couple of big guys too,” Cooley said. Hurley has hinted that he may try a two-big lineup, perhaps this is the opponent to try it out against. He’s also repeatedly emphasized the importance of Reed Jr.’s for the team to reach its ceiling.
With UConn, Georgetown, St. John’s, and Seton Hall in the semifinals, it’s the first time four of the Big East’s original teams are in the semifinals since 1994.
“I've been blessed,” Cooley said. “The coaches have been great, the players have been great, and I'm just grateful that I've had an opportunity to walk on that floor, and I'm going to have another opportunity [Friday] night.”
The Huskies will be looking to keep turnovers and fouls down, so they don’t shoot themselves in the foot in this crucial matchup.
“The thing about these tournaments is the next team you play is better,” Hurley said. This may barely be the case for Georgetown overall, but it’s clearly been a tougher matchup for the Huskies.
The analytics and oddsmakers favor UConn heavily, with KenPom projecting a 76-65 Husky win and Vegas giving even more points to Georgetown.
The game tips off at 8 p.m. on FS1 after the first semifinal between St. John’s and Seton Hall starts at 5:30 p.m. on FOX.
