By Pete Janny
A large contingent of fans wanted to simply fast-forward to Saturday’s Big East Championship Game. Before they could, the UConn Huskies had to first beat Georgetown. That they did, cruising to a 67-51 victory to set up the much-anticipated trilogy tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. ET.
UConn was by no means dominant early on, but was vaulted by 20 points from Braylon Mullins, who had his best performance since scoring 25 in the loss to Creighton close to a month ago. The former Indiana Mr. Basketball struggled with his three–point shot in the first half before making up for it in a big way from the mid-range and in transition. He finished this game with 21 points on 8-17 shooting and did his part defensively.
With the Huskies ahead by 10 in the final minute of the first half, UConn got out in transition off one of Tarris Reed’s vicious blocks that led to an outlet pass to Alex Karaban, who then set up Mullins for a smooth drive and finish. It was poetry in motion for a team that has the potential to play faster but is nonetheless superior when working out of its advanced half-court sets.
Over the course of this game, Georgetown was mired by lackadaisical turnovers, and those problems were compounded by 2-16 (13%) shooting from three. Malik Mack had the massive challenge of facing off with Silas Demary Jr., and struggled against the Huskies’ primary defensive stopper. Georgetown’s half-court struggles went off the tracks even more when it thought it had an opening once Reed hit the bench with his first foul before the Under-12 media timeout. Once Reed returned, Georgetown was greeted by a couple of vicious blocks from one of UConn’s three First Team All-BIG EAST selections. The Huskies would take a 32-21 lead into the locker room.
What shouldn’t be lost on anyone is how brilliant a job UConn did of finding the open man and setting up their shooters. Four second-half threes during the early-to-mid stages of the second half were huge, contributing to a 12-32 (38%) showing from deep. When Reed Jr. was forced yet again to hit the bench due to picking up his fourth, Eric Reibe (8 points on 4-5 shooting) did a stellar job giving UConn production in Reed Jr.'s stead.
In addition to UConn’s defense and three-point shooting, the other attributes that make the Huskies look more and more like the top 5 team Hurley identifies them as are assists and bench production. UConn received 36 points off the bench in its two Big East Tournament games, and baked 21 assists into 28 made field goals, which is not too shabby for the 8th-best assist team in the land.
“We’re not an upstart or an underdog story,” Hurley bluntly declared. “When you’re UConn, there’s a different level of pressure going into these championship moments where it’s like, expected. We don’t get the benefit of being the underdog. We’ve earned a 29-4 position. We’ve been one of the top five college basketball teams the whole year.”
And with that said, the Huskies have earned a third date with St. John’s, the match-up that evokes nasty thoughts that are ever so slightly tempered by a mutual respect that lives deep down inside. The 32-point shellacking that UConn dealt St. John's is still fresh in the minds of every person who follows the sport. Clearly, St. John’s has a chip on their shoulder despite one-upping UConn for the regular season title and winning the first meeting at MSG, 81-72.
The stakes include a potential ninth Big East Tournament Championship for UConn that would break a tie with Georgetown. On the other hand, St. John’s seeks its first time winning back-to-back Big East Tournaments a year after breaking its 25-year drought of not winning one.
Rick Pitino vs. Dan Hurley. St. John’s vs. UConn. Two of the most storied original Big East programs. The plot is about to thicken in March. Let’s buckle up.
