Huskies Ready for Big East Tournament
The Story: The UConn men's March Madness begins today when the No. 4 seed Huskies play No. 5 seed Providence in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden (2:30 p.m., FS1).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: This is our favorite time of the year — and our favorite day. The Big East tournament is a national treasure, and we are going to sit down with a discounted Miller Lite and enjoy the best conference tournament in the land.
• The Huskies (24-7) are playing in their 36th Big East tournament. They have won five straight and are beginning to look like national title contenders once again at No. 11 in the country.
• The Huskies will have an opportunity for another quality win as they take on struggling Providence, which has limped into the postseason at 21-10 but remains a lock for the NCAA tournament.
• Providence has split the two games with the Huskies this year and coach Ed Cooley has already made this an insurmountable game for his Friars going in. Don't take that bait as Providence has one of the top players in the conference in Bryce Hopkins.
• For all the times the Huskies and Friars have played, this is only the fourth time they meet in the Big East tournament. They have split those games 2-2, with the last time they played in 1998 — a Rip Hamilton-led 64-55 win.
STARS ON BROADWAY: This is likely Jordan Hawkins' last chance for Big East glory. One of the most important switches of the last six weeks for the Huskies is they have started to rely more on Hawkins as their No. 1 option, eschewing the four-out inside offense that started with Adama Sanogo getting a touch first.
• Hawkins has been the conference's best player in the second half of the season and made a late run at Big East Player of the Year, which deservedly went to Marquette's Tyler Kolek.
• Hawkins is averaging 16.4 points per game and is one of the more deadly wing players in the nation. His goal this week? Hopefully, mirror performances of UConn greats including Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon and Hamilton. Those are big shoes to fill, of course, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility for the talented sophomore from Maryland.
ALL-SNUB TEAMS? We get that Andre Jackson wasn't named to any all-conference team. We were miffed when Sanogo didn't win Big East Player of the Year. But we are raging mad that Alex Karaban didn't win the Big East Freshman of the Year award.
• Karaban has won more Big East Freshman of the Week honors than anyone but didn't win the award yesterday as Cam Whitmore from NIT also-ran Villanova somehow won it. What are we expecting against Providence? A chip on the shoulder for the all-snub team.
• Jackson has found his groove again. Not forcing it on offense has led him to score in double figures in four of the last five games — all wins. Before that, Jackson had not scored double figures in 12 games. What is the difference? It's that he stopped trying to prove he could score and just played his game.
• Karaban is the kind of player who can explode in a three-game tournament. Defenses have to chase shooters on the perimeter and the more intense games, especially with no rest, make him one of the more dangerous players. Karaban is averaging 9.7 points per game and shooting 47.1 percent, including 39.7 percent from 3-point range. He is a killer player in high-leverage games as defenses are going to be keyed in on Sanogo and Hawkins and will allow Karaban the chance to beat them.
DOES THIS TOURNAMENT MATTER? Yes. UConn is comfortably in the NCAA Tournament and doesn't have to worry about its postseason prospects, but if it wants to make a deep run, it will help if it gets the highest seed possible.
• The Huskies are a No. 3 or No. 4 seed by most accounts, and a loss absolutely kicks them to a No. 4 seed and makes the road difficult.
• The Huskies would play a dangerous team in the first round and a top-20 team in the second round. Then, they would have to play a top seed in the Sweet 16 on rest. There's a reason that a No. 4 seed has never won the NCAA Tournament and only one No. 5 seed has ever run the gauntlet.
• A No. 3 seed or higher would give the Huskies a much easier first-round game. If the Huskies win the Big East tournament, it's going to be hard to keep them off the No. 2 line, in our opinion.
IS THE TOURNAMENT A PRECURSOR? Hell no. What happens in the Big East tournament is awesome, and sometimes it's harder to win the Big East tournament than the NCAA title, to be quite frank. But we'll mention a couple of runs and non-runs out there.
• UConn beat Georgetown in 1996, Allen versus Allen in one of the great Big East title games ever. That game took so much out of the Huskies they were never the same. They lost to Mississippi State in a Sweet 16 game in which they looked exhausted.
• On the flip side, UConn lost in six overtimes to Syracuse as the No. 1 seed in 2008 and went to the Final Four three weeks later.
• The last two national title seasons have provided different experiences. Kemba Walker turned five games in five days into a legendary March run and a national title in 2011. Shabazz Napier and the Huskies were obliterated in the AAC final by Louisville in 2014 by 30-something points.
• Yes, for nearly a decade, UConn did not play in the Big East tournament. It's hard to believe we survived. And for today's games, we are thankful.
— John Silver
Morning Reads
• Jim Boeheim is out at Syracuse after 47 seasons and one NCAA title. Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye. (ESPN)
• The Dolphins are planning to release Byron Jones later this month in a cost-cutting move after he tweeted that he can no longer run or jump following an Achilles injury. (ESPN)
Top photo: Jordan Hawkins shoots over Akok Akok in UConn’s home game against Georgetown. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
