Big East tournament bracket, schedule: Rick Pitino, St. John’s look to fend off Dan Hurley, UConn at Madison Square Garden

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St. John’s picked up its first conference title in decades this season while UConn stumbled to the finish line. (AP/Morry Gash)

St. John’s, not UConn, is in the driver’s seat at Madison Square Garden this week.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Big East tournament.

3 storylines to watch

Rick Pitino is back

Just like that, Rick Pitino is back and dominating in the Big East again. The Red Storm clinched their first Big East title since 1985 this season while climbing into the top 10. They ended the regular season winning 16 of their last 17 games, with the lone loss coming in a two-point battle at Villanova, and they survived at Marquette with a wild game-winner in overtime on Saturday. Nobody seemed able to really compete with them in the conference slate.

Pitino has led St. John’s to a place it hasn’t been in decades. He’s now in a prime position to not only run the Big East, but contend for a national title once again during the comeback stage of his career.

Is UConn’s three-peat attempt dead?

The Huskies started out the season looking like a legitimate three-peat contender after dominating the sport over the last two years. The dream of a third consecutive title, however, is on life support.

UConn will enter the Big East tournament with just a 22-9 record and as the No. 3 seed. The Huskies plummeted out of the national rankings completely in February after suffering several bad losses, including twice to St. John’s, and to Xavier, Villanova and Seton Hall. It’s hard to count Dan Hurley and the Huskies out given their recent track record, but the back half of this season has not been kind to UConn. Without a dominant run at Madison Square Garden this week, it’s going to be hard to believe that they can run it back a third time in the NCAA tournament.

Can Villanova, Xavier play their way in?

Both Villanova and Xavier need some help this week to make the tournament. The Wildcats went just 18-13 this season, though they grabbed big wins over ranked St…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-03-09 15:20:00

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