Madison Square Garden Jumbotron (Photo Courtesy Justin Hill)
On Thursday, the Big East Tournament continued with four quarterfinal games. Madison Square Garden was filled with excitement as each team came with one thing on their mind: winning.
After a slow start, the UConn Huskies gave up a 10-0 run to the Xavier Musketeers in the first game of the day. However, UConn turned on the breaks and took a 13-0 run, and never looked back. In the second half, the Huskies put on a clinic by scoring 53 points to win 87-60. Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton both scored 13 points and had seven rebounds.
In the Madison Square Garden tunnel, I had the opportunity to ask UConn head coach, Dan Hurley about the team’s confidence level in the Big East Tournament and as they look forward to March Madness. Hurley said, “I think we’re comfortable this time of year with the success we’ve had and the season we’ve had. We expect to win. It’s an exciting time of year. For us, stick to our script and lead defense and lead offense, rebound the hell out of the ball, play harder than the opponent, and make sure our preparation is on point. We have the potential to do big things."
The second game was the battle of New York vs New Jersey as the St. John’s Red Storm took on the Seton Hall Pirates. Led by RJ Luis Jr’s 18 points, St. Johns secured a 91-72 victory. The Red Storm will advance to Friday’s semifinals for the first time in 24 years and have likely secured a spot for March Madness.
St. Johns head coach Rick Pitino said, “It’s a blessing to be able to coach St. Johns in Madison Square Garden.” and “It was a really good win against a very good team. We get to go on. It will be another sell-out and we will face another great team. We will meet the challenge head-on.”
In the third game, the Providence Friars were successful against the Creighton Bluejays, winning 78-73. Friar and Big East Player of The Year Devin Carter put on a display in Madison Square Garden with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. The Friars are hoping to secure an invitation to March Madness.
After the game, I spoke with Carter about his performance and thoughts going into the semifinals. He said, “I am not worried about my personal accolades. I think my teammates did a great job tonight. They made a lot of open shots. Jayden did a great job running point and making big-time shots. We have to keep the rhythm going.”
In the last game of the day, the Villanova Wildcats exited the Big East Tournament after a 65-71 overtime loss to the Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette’s star guard Tyler Kolek was unable to play due to injury. Kam Jones led their scoring with 18 points.
During the post-game press conference, I asked Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune what he said to his team after the loss. Neptune said, "I told them I was proud of them. I thought we came out. I thought the guys played extremely hard. I thought we were good defensively for most of the game, got some key stops, made some key offensive plays. It’s the Big East Tournament. It is the best league for college basketball in the country. Big-time players, big-time programs, coaches. The margins are very small.”
On Friday, the Big East Tournament continues with two semifinal games. The one-seed UConn will play against the five-seed St. Johns. The seven-seed Providence will play against the three-seed Marquette.