How do you take down Iona? Ask Quinnipiac’s Dunleavy

How do you beat Rick Pitino?

A Christian Laettner turnaround jumper at the buzzer is one way, but that was more than 30 years ago.

Don’t ask Kevin Ollie, whose 0-4 record as UConn men’s basketball coach vs. Pitino’s Louisville teams were all double-digit losses and included a 33-point blowout and an Ollie ejection.

You could ask Jim Calhoun, who beat Pitino in the Big East Tournament title game in 2011 to complete an amazing fivewins-in-five-nights run. But the two haven’t faced each other in over a decade and Calhoun is now retired.

For a more recent account on how to beat Pitino, who is in his third season as head coach at Iona, you don’t have to look too far. Baker Dunleavy did so with Quinnipiac back on Jan. 8 — and quite handily. The Bobcats

never trailed and roared to an 81-58 victory at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden.

“I think we were clicking on all cylinders, and they were maybe not the best version of themselves,” Dunleavy recalled.

True, Iona leading scorer and eventual MAAC Player of the Year Walter Clayton Jr. didn’t play in that one. Three weeks later, in New Rochelle, N.Y., the Bobcats kept it going and raced out to a 17-point halftime lead. Alas, Pitino unleashed his fullcourt pressure in the latter half, and the Gaels stormed back for a 78-72 victory.

“We had at least three of our better halves of the year against Iona, which I’m proud of, because they’re a really good team,” Dunleavy said.

No. 4 seed UConn faces 13thseeded Iona in an NCAA Tournament first round game on Friday at MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y. (4:30 p.m., TBS). The Huskies will certainly be a strong favorite, but Iona will be no pushover.

“I think they’re good enough to be an 11, 12 seed, I really do,”

Dunleavy said of the 27-7 Gaels. “You start with Coach Pitino, as a recruiter but just as a coach. The way they play is different. The way they press, but also the way they play with unbelievable pace offensively. They shoot a lot of 3s.”

Pressing, playing a hectic pace and unleashing a bunch of 3s is something Pitino has been doing since 1987, when he became the first to truly exploit the brand-new 3point shot and led Providence to an unlikely trip to the Final Four. Iona shot 36-percent form 3point range this season, second only to Quinnipiac in the MAAC.

Of course, UConn was tops in the Big East and 14th in the nation in defending the 3, holding foes to 29.7-percent shooting from beyond the arc.

“So, they might be able to match up really well with a mid-major team that shoots a lot of them,” Dunleavy said.

But Iona brings much more to the table.

“The thing that makes them really unique as a

mid-major, you look across the landscape and most of the mid-majors that are elite teams and made it into March have really good backcourts,” Dunleavy said. “That’s what our level is all about. But they have size, too. That’s really rare. Between Junior Joseph and (Osborn) Shema, they start with 6-10, 6-11 in the frontcourt. That’s what sets them apart, at our level. Their guards are their best players, I believe. But, they also have that ability to throw it inside, to defend paint and to pressure you.”

And that’s what Dan Hurley and his staff will be facing. Other than St. John’s and perhaps Marquette, the Huskies haven’t seen a lot of fullcourt pressure defense in the Big East. Point guard play has been an area of concern for the Huskies. Tristen Newton has had a very good season, but he’s not a classic point guard in the mold of Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier or even Taliek Brown (who, ironically, is on Pitino’s staff as an assistant).

Can Iona’s pressure bother Big East-caliber players?

“I think Coach Pitino

will be measured with his approach,” Dunleavy predicted. “He’ll look at it and say, ‘Can we do this for 40 minutes, or are we better off bringing it in waves?’ They’ll probably start the game with a little bit of pressure and see how it goes, and they might not use it for 40 minutes. But, certainly if it bothers you, they’ll smell blood and ramp it up.

“I don’t think it’s something that Iona just depends on to be successful,” he continued. “It’s a tool within their arsenal. But they can play a halfcourt game, and they can make you feel pressure just by playing halfcourt defense, too. They switch their 7-footer out, they do a lot of different stuff. It’ll definitely be fun to watch. I’m not a pundit, but it’s hard to pick against a team as good as UConn. Period.”

Indeed, while some may feel the Huskies drew an unfavorable firstround matchup, Dunleavy feels the exact opposite.

“(Iona) could have drawn a better matchup than UConn, because UConn can, I think, do what Iona does better than Iona,” the coach

said. “I think UConn’s really different this year, I really do. I think they’re really good. Hopefully they can make a little run here. But they’re battletested, man.”

Dunleavy just completed his sixth and most successful season at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats won 20 games for the first time under his watch before their season came to an unceremonious end in a quarterfinal-round MAAC Tournament loss to Marist.

“I feel like we’ve rebuilt the program twice: once when I got the job, and once post-COVID,” Dunleavy explained. “I think we’re in a really good place. I think we understand what it takes to be good in this league. I feel good about moving forward.”

While Dunleavy’s name has popped up in rumors for a few recently vacated jobs, his contract has not expired and he fully expects to be back in Hamden next season.

Pitino, to the contrary, appears halfway out the door to St. John’s, per multiple reports. Could that be a distraction for the Gaels this week?

“I don’t think so,” Dunleavy

said. “I think he’ll handle that great. And I don’t think that’s anything new to these players. When you sign up to play for Coach Pitino at Iona, you know there are going to be, every year, opportunities for him to leave. You just know it ... I think they’ll be in the moment. And they missed out on it last year, so these guys will be hungry being in that tournament.”

Dunleavy added that Pitino has been “really nice ... very gracious” to opposing coaches in the MAAC the past three years.

‘It’s a great test, as a coach and for your team, to go against a team that you know is as prepared and coached at an elite level,” said Dunleavy. “That part of it’s been fun.”

That’s the “fun” Dan Hurley & Co. have to look forward to on Friday afternoon in Albany — an aggressive, pressing, 3point-shooting team with a Hall of Fame coach.

But as Baker Dunleavy pointed out: “UConn’s so good, it may not matter.”

Dunleavy