The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Will UConn-Syracuse rivalry continue past this season?
Nothing set beyond game in Thursday’s 2K Classic
STORRS — When UConn and Syracuse clash at Madison Square Garden in a 2K Classic bout on Thursday night, it will be the fourth straight year the two former Big East rivals meet.
It may also be the last time for a while.
Nothing is scheduled yet, but to hear Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim talk, it doesn’t seem likely that anything will happen next season.
“It’s hard to play homeand-homes now, because we’re going to 20 (games) in the ACC next year,” the Hall of Fame coach told Hearst Connecticut Media on Tuesday. “We play the Big 10 game, and we play in a tournament. So it’s making it harder and harder to play teams that you used to play. You can only play so many of those kind of games.”
The Orange have won two of the three nonconference meetings and boast a 56-38 all-time record against the Huskies. UConn did get the last laugh in their final meeting as Big East foes on Feb. 13, 2013, however, as Ryan Boatright left the Orange with “the taste of UConn in their mouths.”
But while UConn-Syracuse may take at least a brief hiatus, Dan Hurley is working on renewing bonds with other former Big East rivals.
“We’re trying to get as many of those home-and-homes involving the Garden,” the first-year UConn coach said after practice Tuesday. “Me and Tom (Moore) are working on that right now, finishing up next year’s schedule. All the people that our fans are excited about renewing those rivalries with, if we don’t play the series, it’s not because we don’t want it. We’re on the phone constantly with all our former Big East friends, trying to get those games back.”
And it’s not just ex-Big East rivals the Huskies are looking to play.
“A lot of close-to blueblood level programs, or blue bloods, want to do series with UConn,” Hurley noted. “Obviously, because of the draw that we bring, the sexiness of the game, in terms of our brand still being pretty strong.”
UConn-Syracuse (which tips off at 7 p.m. on Thursday) is a natural for the Garden.
“They have a great fan base that comes, and we do,” said Boeheim. “It makes for an exciting game. It’s hard to draw fans in New York, but Connecticut can and we can. That makes for a good crowd and a good game, I think.”
And, of course, from Gerry McNamara’s heroics to six-overtime marathons, there have been numerous
classic battles between the schools over the years inside the building. Still, now that Syracuse is in the ACC and UConn in the AAC, it’ll never quite be the same.
Boeheim noted that he’s tried to get his team into events where UConn is playing the past few years. In 2015, they met in the Battle 4 Atlantis, where Syracuse pulled out a 7976 win. The following year, UConn eked out an ugly 52-50 win in the Tire Pros Classic at MSG.
Last season, Syracuse won 72-63 in the Jimmy V Classic, again at the Garden.
“When you move on, you’re in different leagues, but Syracuse-Connecticut still means something,” Boeheim pointed out. “There were a lot of years, a lot of games that were really, really great games for a long time.”
RIM RATTLINGS: Syracuse point guard Frank Howard has missed the team’s first two games, and it appears he may not be available to play on Thursday night.
“He’s been practicing a little bit, but hasn’t really had a full practice yet,” said Boeheim. “He’s been out eight weeks, he’s very limited in what he can do. I don’t know that he would even be able to play this week — I doubt it.”
Jalen Carey, a freshman who was heavily recruited by UConn, has been sidelined for a while but has played in the Orange’s first two games.
“Our rhythm isn’t what we would like it to be without (Carey) and Frank there,” Boeheim noted. “It’s just a different team. But, the other guys are working hard, doing what they can do, playing pretty well. We’re just not where we need to get to, and that’s pretty understandable, playing without your point guard.”