MBB: Strong defensive effort sinks Seton Hall in Big East quarterfinal
NEW YORK - After three thrilling predecessors, the Connecticut Huskies made sure that the hearts of Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament attendees got a rest to cap off a full Thursday of quarterfinal action.
Seeking their first trophy hoist at Madison Square Garden since 2011 (and record-tying eighth overall), the Huskies (23-8) made relatively easy work out of the Seton Hall Pirates in their postseason opener. Third-seeded UConn never trailed beyond the second minute and limited the No. 6 Pirates to 36 percent shooting from the field en-route to a 62-52 victory.
Isaiah Whaley earned four of seven UConn blocks and was one of three Huskies in double figures with 10, behind only R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin, who put in 17 each. Whaley also had six offensive rebounds, while Adama Sanogo created five more extra chances himself (part of an 11-rebounds night for the latter).
Husky personnel noted that Thursday’s win featured the cornerstones of a modern UConn victory, one earned through shutdown defense and winning the rebounding battle. Seton Hall (21-10) was limited to a 25 percent shooting effort from the field in the first half (7-of-28) as the Huskies jumped out to a 29-18 halftime lead.
Through the execution of their staples, UConn led by as much as 16 and the Pirates never came closer than seven over the rest of the way.
“That's just our identity…when we go into the game plan, that's the first thing on the board in every game, just our defense and rebounding, that's the first game key,” Martin said. “So when we come in here, we make sure we handle that first and then the rest of it just falls into place.”
“We just settled down and make sure we got back to defense,” Cole said of the UConn effort to pull way in the second half.
“We were scrambling around matchups. Again, we were kind of all over the place and things like that. But once we got back to regular matches that we wanted to have, we just made sure we had the help and things like that, made sure we were in the right spots, and then we were just able to put the game away,” said Cole after scoring 17 points in the win.
Hurley was also pleased with the way the UConn physicality manifested at the foul line and subsequently taking advantage of those opportunities: the Huskies sank 12-of-14 free throws compared to a 5-of-9 output for the Pirates.
“We put so much physical pressure on our opponent on the backboard, with the relentless approach to the glass to the offensive glass,” the head coach said.
“Our identity is paint pressure to both ends of the court. I just thought the greatest barometer for us is the free throw line. Obviously got to make free throws, and especially this time of year…to be plus-13 (in rebounding ratio and hold them to 36 percent from the field, we just wear on teams and eventually, we could break teams.”
Seton Hall now faces a tense three days as they await their NCAA Tournament fate. The Pirates were paced by a combined 31 points from Myles Cale (17) and Kadary Richmond (14). Thursday marked the third meeting between Connecticut and Seton Hall this season, with the Huskes emerging victorious in the latter pair.
With the win, UConn will face second-seeded Villanova in the latter portion of Friday night’s semifinal action (9 p.m. ET, FS1), where they’ll play for their first Big East championship game appearance since the aforementioned triumph a decade prior. The Wildcats (24-7) overcame a 17-point deficit to get by No. 7 St. John’s, clinching the victory through Brandon Slater’s free throws that created the final margin of 66-65 with under three seconds remaining.
UConn and Villanova split a pair of meetings this season, the latter being a thrilling 71-69 Huskies victory in Hartford on Feb. 22. Cole’s driving floater with just under six seconds remaining created the last of 18 lead changes.
“It's going to be a good matchup,” Cole said. “We’re ready to get back out there and prepare for Villanova. We’ll see what happens.”
“Quarterfinal Thursday is pretty cool, but semifinal Friday's even better,” Hurley said. “You come to a place like UConn to play the big dogs, to play on in the quarters in the semis. The place was rocking with so many UConn fans (tonight). Tomorrow, there’s going to be insanity in here.”
Friday will mark UConn’s first Big East Tournament showdown with Villanova since their conference championship run in 2002 and their first postseason meeting overall since the Round of 32 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Both ended in Connecticut’s favor, with the latter preceding the program’s most recent national title.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
