The Pirates have won four straight home games against the Huskies.
Homecomings to his native New Jersey and to his alma mater, Seton Hall, have not been happy of late for UConn head coach Dan Hurley.
Think four consecutive losses to the Pirates, a fellow Big East team, at the Prudential Center in Newark.
It’s against that backdrop that Hurley takes his Huskies (16-1, 6-0) into his home state Tuesday night to face Seton Hall (14-2, 4-1).
This game is rich with storylines.
It pits the No. 3 Huskies against the No. 25 Pirates, who on Monday saw their name on the Associated Press top 25 poll for the first time since Jan. 10. 2022. No one expected Seton Hall to be ranked more than halfway through the season. The Pirates were projected to finish last in the conference in the Big East preseason poll.
It matches the coaching minds of two former Seton Hall point guards – Hurley, Class of 1996, and the man who replaced him as the Pirates’ floor leader, Shaheen Holloway, Class of 2000.
And a win would give the Pirates their seventh all-time home victory against UConn, which would break a tie with Georgetown, St. John’s and Syracuse for Seton Hall’s most home wins ever over a specific ranked opponent.
This is the first Big East game of the season featuring two top-25 teams. And Hurley is plenty wary of facing Seton Hall, despite his team’s current 12-game winning streak.
“They’re quick, they’re very aggressive, very physical, on ball, off ball,” Hurley said Monday night on a call with reporters, per NJ.com.
And Hurley said the Huskies will need to protect the basketball. Seton Hall is averaging 15.1 forced turnovers per game, with UConn giving the ball away an average of 11.2 times per game.
“We’re going to have to take care of the ball,” Hurley said. “Most of the teams that we’ve turned the ball over against weren’t teams that apply pressure.”
Recent history
The Huskies have found a variety of ways to lose on Seton Hall’s home floor, none more painful that their defeat last Feb. 15 when they lost 69-68 in overtime to a team that entered the game 1-12 in the Big East.
UConn had a 58-53 lead with 18 seconds remaining and squandered the lead, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Tarris Reed Jr. put in a layup off an Alex Karaban assist to go up 68-63 with 59 seconds left.
And the Huskies still lost.
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Those four road losses have come during a span in which UConn won two national titles.
Why does Seton Hall perform so well at home against UConn.
“Great question,” Holloway said, per the Daily Journal. “I think it’s the mindset of our players. When you play a top-five team like UConn, they’re always going to get your best.”
And why has UConn not been at its best?
"I'm not really sure," Hurley said Monday. "Two of those games, it probably took some really unfortunate circumstances to lose it. But I don't think anyone on this team is thinking about that. College is so different now, the teams are so different on a year-to-year basis. I have so few players who played in last year's game, never mind were on a national championship team."
UConn leads the all-time series 50-24.
The Pirates are led this season by AJ Staton-McCray (12.2 points per game), Tajuan Simpkins (11.1) and Adam “Budd” Clark (10.5).
All five Huskies starters are averaging double-digits per game scoring: Solo Ball (14.8), Karaban (14.0), Reed Jr. (13.9), Braylon Mullins (11.7) and Silas Demary Jr. (10.2).
How to Watch
Game time is set for 8 p.m. ET and will be televised by truTV. Spero Dedes, Jim Spanarkel and Andy Katz will be on the call.
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