The UCONN Huskies defeated the 9 Northwestern Wildcats in the Round of 32 on Sunday night in Brooklyn, New York by a final score of 75-58. With the win for UCONN, they will advance to the Sweet 16 in Boston, Massachusetts, and take on the 5 San Diego State Aztecs.
The San Diego State Aztecs and the UCONN Huskies were in the championship game a season ago in the NCAA Tournament. With the win for the Huskies, the Big East Conference improves to 6-0 in the NCAA Tournament. Only UCONN, the Marquette Golden Eagles, and the Creighton Blue Jays made it to the big dance from that conference.
All three of those teams have a legitimate chance to be in the Final Four this season in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a good thing that the Big East is doing well in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
UCONN Huskies Head Coach Dan Hurley Said After the Game Against Northwestern That There Is a Big East Coaches Group Chat
After the win, Hurley spoke to the media. He told Zach Braziller of the New York Post by saying:
“There is a coaches Big East group chat and other coaches are fired up to see how the three teams are doing. There should’ve been five or six teams in this tournament.”
A few of the teams that are probably fired up to see the UCONN Huskies, the Marquette Golden Eagles, and the Creighton Blue Jays do well in the NCAA Tournament so far are the Seton Hall Pirates, the St. John’s Red Storm, and the Providence Friars.
Seton Hall beat both Marquette and UCONN this season. The Pirates were the one team that were snubbed from the tournament and also swept the season series from St. John’s before the Red Storm beat them in the Big East Tournament. The Friars also made it to the semifinals in the Big East Tournament before losing to the Marquette Golden Eagles.
The Big East Conference has won the last three of six titles. If it happens for the fourth time in seven seasons, the tournament committee will look foolish for having so few teams in and the UCONN Huskies are looking to be the first team since the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007 to go back-to-back.
