UConn, Providence rivalry hits Big Apple for first time in 25 years
STORRS — “Arrogant fans.” Jim Calhoun’s famous Ryan Gomes rant. A tiff over a girlfriend. A less-than warm welcome back to the Big East. $2 beer night.
There has been a lot of drama between the UConn men’s basketball team and Providence, two of the original seven members of the Big East, over the years. Very little of that drama has ever transpired at Madison Square Garden.
Despite being conference mates for 37 of the past 44 seasons, the Huskies and Friars have only met in the Big East tournament four times. That’s less than any of UConn’s fellow original Big East members, Georgetown and Seton Hall (eight meetings each) St. John’s (six), and even since-departed Syracuse (14) and Pittsburgh (seven). Heck, the Huskies faced Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference tournament as often as they’ve faced Providence in the Big East tourney.
The programs are 2-2 in Big East tournament bouts. The rubber match comes Thursday at 2:30 p.m., when fourth-seeded UConn faces the slumping, fifth-seeded Friars.
It will be the first conference tourney meeting between the schools in 25 years. And it will be electric.
UConn and Providence don’t like each other too much. Providence fans seemingly consider the Huskies one of their main rivals. UConn fans have been loathe to embrace it, preferring to focus on Villanova, even Syracuse or Duke as their main rivals. But Husky fans seem to be coming around, particularly lately.
PC coach Ed Cooley has had a lot to say about the UConn over the past few years. In October 2019, Cooley wasn’t too happy about the Huskies’ imminent return to the Big East, noting that it would impede the Friars’ recruiting ability, and also ruing the fact that the invite would prop up the program again after seven years in the AAC.
“I think we gave Connecticut new life,” Cooley said at the time. “We gave their fan base new life. They finally came to the conclusion that they are a basketball-centric school. They poured all their money in football, and in
my opinion, it was going into a hole. When you’ve become a national brand in one sport and try to parlay into something it isn’t, shame on you for making the decision upfront.”
Two weeks ago, after the Huskies had curbstomped the Friars 87-69 at Gampel Pavilion, Cooley, out of nowhere, focused his energy on the UConn fan base.
“For the many arrogant fans out there that don’t think this is one of the best New England basketball games — Connecticut has been very fortunate to have some incredible teams and incredible coaches, and this fan base is incredibly spoiled,” Cooley said, unprompted. “Appreciate winning. Appreciate that. There’s a reason why them dudes are in the Hall of Fame, on the men’s and women’s side. Don’t get arrogant with it. Appreciate it and try to get the next one. That’s what an educated
fan base appreciates, and that’s what the Friars do.”
He added that the lubed-up Gampel crowd helped the Huskies’ victory.
“$2 beer night worked,” Cooley said.
Told of Cooley’s quotes shortly afterwards, Hurley replied: “Did Ed say that? A lot of people twodollar beer us,” pointing to a game at Creighton a week earlier. “I think in Omaha it was a quarter for a Schaefer.”
A couple of days later, Hurley noted that $2 beer night may have gotten too much credit for the Huskies’ victory.
“They didn’t help us go plus-20 on the backboard,” the coach said.
At a media gathering on Monday, Cooley couldn’t stop hurling plaudits towards UConn, which is ranked No. 11 in this week’s penultimate AP Top 25 poll.
“I think there’s no team in the country that is playing better than them right now,” he told reporters. “They’ve got a lot of confidence, they have two firstteam
all-conference players, I think they have a first-round pick in Jordan Hawkins.”
“They should be No. 1,” Cooley added. “They really should be.”
Once again, Hurley wasn’t really taking the bait. Apprised of Cooley’s comments, the UConn coach laughed, paused a moment, and responded: “Yeah, I’m not gonna do the gamesmanship. They win they’re No. 1, right? I don’t know.”
The relationship between Hurley and Cooley is a complex one that dates back to when Hurley was coaching Rhode Island, the Friars’ instate rival. During a close game at URI’s Ryan Center on Dec. 5, 2013, the coaches engaged in a spirited shouting match precipitated by Cooley directing a URI player to get away from the Friars’ huddle during a timeout, and Hurley springing to his player’s defense.
Cooler heads quickly prevailed, and the coaches shook hands on the sidelines and took blame for the incident. Hurley and Cooley became good friends, living near each other in the tiny Ocean State, working out at the gym together.
Cooley won the first five meetings between the two, but Hurley got the last laugh in 2017 before bolting for UConn the following season. Cooley is 3-2 vs. Hurley since UConn returned to the Big East.
On the recruiting front, Hurley beat out Cooley for Akok Akok and Donovan Clingan.
More recently, Cooley got a commitment from 2024 guard Kayvaun Mulready, a coveted UConn target.
Are the Friars UConn’s biggest rival? Freshman Alex Karaban isn’t so sure.
“I wouldn’t say the biggest, but it’s developing into a rivalry, just because what they said and what UConn fans say, so it really can turn into that,” he said. “I’d still say it’s Villanova.”
But it’s a rivalry, folks. And a very intense one. Even in PC’s leaner years, it was always a thorn in the Huskies’ side.
From 2004 to 2008, during which UConn won a national title and got to the Elite Eight, the Friars won five of seven meetings. When UConn played its first game at home before fans since its return to the Big East on Dec. 18, 2021, PC spoiled the party with a 57-53 win in Hartford.
This season, Friar fans hurled beer towards the court in the waning minutes of a 73-61 Friar victory on Jan. 4 in Providence.
UConn countered with its $2 beer night blowout.
Now, PC is coming off two ugly losses at home and teetering towards the NCAA tournament bubble.
“With the new Big East, too, I think it accentuates the rivalry,” Hurley said after practice on Monday. “With the old Big East, there were so many other programs in the league. Now, particularly with Providence and all the old Big East schools, Villanova, it definitely feels like those games have extra. And Providence, I don’t know what the success level was like in the 2000s, when UConn and Providence were competing, but they’ve won a lot of games, Ed’s done a great job there. The game’s got a lot of juice to them. That’s what makes college basketball fun.”
And Thursday afternoon at Madison Square Garden sure promises to be fun.