Pitino, Iona to test Uconn

Huskies face MAAC champ Gaels and their veteran coach

ALBANY — The first round of the NCAA Tournament hasn’t been kind to the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team the past two years.

MVP Arena hasn’t been hospitable to Iona and its head coach, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, the past two seasons.

Something has to give on Friday when fourth-seeded Uconn (25-8), featuring Albany Academy graduate Andre Jackson Jr., meets No. 13 Iona (27-7) at 4:30 p.m. in a first-round matchup at MVP Arena.

“I think, number one, we have the best team we’ve had,” said Huskies coach Dan Hurley, in his fifth season. “We’ve played to the quality of a Top 10 team this year, overall body of work. Obviously, at the high end, we’ve probably played as well as anybody in the country.”

The Huskies started 14-0, lost six of eight games at midseason and finished with nine victories in their past 11. They lost to eventual champion Marquette 70-68 in a Big East Tournament semifinal

last Friday.

“We’ve got great respect for Connecticut,” Pitino said. “They’re not a four seed. I think we all know who have watched them, they could go to a Final Four, win a national championship. They’re so deep. They’re so talented. And we’re a pretty good team as well.”

Iona has won 14 games in a row since its last defeat, a 70-53 setback Jan. 27 at Siena. The Gaels have years of experience

playing at MVP Arena, including four straight MAAC Tournament titles from 2016 to 2019. But they’ve lost both of their trips here with Pitino against Siena.

“I’m sure (Siena) fans will be for us, because we’re part of the league,” Pitino said. “This building doesn’t have great memories. We got our (butts) kicked two years in a row.”

Jackson, the Uconn guard raised in Amsterdam, will have hometown support in his first trip back to the Capital Region to play.

“I mean, it’s awesome, being able to be around my family and then also my friends and also being in a place that’s really familiar,” Jackson said.

It won’t be quite as awesome if the Huskies are one-and-done again. As a No. 7 seed, Uconn lost to No. 10 Maryland in the first round two years ago. Last year, the fifth-seeded Huskies were upended by No. 12 New Mexico State in

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Photos by Jim Franco / Times Union Uconn’s Andre Jackson Jr. said “It’s awesome, being able to be around my family and then also my friends,” for the NCAA Tournament.

Iona coach Rick Pitino is rumored to be a target of St. John’s for its head coaching vacancy. Pitino said it would take a special job to get him to leave Iona.