With the UConn men set to play their first Big East game Sunday, here’s a look back at the Huskies’ most memorable moments in the original conference
The UConn men will play their first Big East game on Sunday, their first, at least, in the new version of the conference. The Huskies were a charter member of the original conference, playing in it from 1979 until the break-up in 2013.
UConn basketball fans rejoiced with the news of June 2018 that the program would be joining the new conference after six seasons in the American Athletic Conference, and have eagerly anticipated the renewal of old rivalries against Providence, Villanova, Georgetown, St. John’s and Seton Hall, and the formation of some new ones. The new era is to begin, if the pandemic allows, on Sunday at noon vs. Creighton.
Many of UConn’s most cherished men’s basketball memories happened in the original Big East. Here are 10 of them, in no particular order:
The step-back
March 10, 2011: No UConn fan will ever forget Kemba Walker’s step-back jumper to beat Pittsburgh, 76-75, in the Big East quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden, short subway rides from his home in The Bronx and his high school in Harlem. Even if the Huskies didn’t go on to win five games in five days to take the conference title, and six more in a row to win the national championship, the moment was unforgettable. The fact they did do all that made it a shot for the ages.
Ray Allen vs. Allen Iverson
March 9, 1996: Again at The Garden, No. 3 UConn vs. No. 6 Georgetown, both featuring marquee players. In the final minute, Allen, held without a field goal in the second half, threw up an acrobatic shot over Iverson, and it went in off the glass. Iverson took Georgetown’s last shot and missed. The Huskies won the Big East final, 75-74, and both are now enshrined in Springfield.
Dreaming of Denver
March 11, 1990: Once more at Madison Square Garden, the Huskies added to the lore of what would come to be known as the Dream Season, their major breakthrough as a Big East powerhouse and national program. It culminated with a 78-75 win over Syracuse that had CBS’ Brent Mussburger asking if Denver, site of the Final Four, was in UConn’s future. Not that year, but the Huskies were on their way.
Table dancing
Dec. 12, 1998: The top-ranked Huskies appeared done at Pittsburgh with nine seconds left, but scored five points in that span to win it. Khalid El-Amin’s winning basket with 2 seconds left was spectacular and exciting as it was, but his celebration after the buzzer — jumping up on the scorer’s table to gesture to Panthers fans at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse — is an iconic piece of video in Huskies lore. UConn 70, Pitt 69. Next stop: the first championship.
Six OTs
March 12, 2009: Are there any two words in the language that, if joined together, evoke more emotion for a UConn fan that “six overtimes?” The Huskies and Syracuse staged the epic battle at The Garden during the Big East tournament and fought until one wondered who would run out of players first. Ultimately, Syracuse prevailed, 127-117, after 3 hours, 46 minutes of incredible basketball.
The glowing dome
Jan. 27, 1990: Before UConn could really arrive on the national stage, they needed a stage of their own in Storrs. Out of the dusty, old field house, the Huskies opened their new digs, Gampel Pavilion. Jim Calhoun envisioned it as a dome that could light up a snowy night in the dead of winter, and that’s as it was the night of the grand opening. Every seat filled, 8,241 at the time,, and louder than anything anyone had heard on campus before, Gampel became an instant home court advantage. The Huskies were routed by St. John’s four weeks earlier but won this time, and the Dream Season was on.
Calhoun’s last stand
March 3, 2012: Jim Calhoun was recovering from back surgery, and advised by his doctors to take more time off. Whether he had already decided to retire, as he did before the next season began, only he knows, but he definitely wanted one more game at home. When someone asked if he’d be needing a chair, Calhoun snarled, said he wanted no more “stupid questions.” The Huskies, who’d been struggling, rallied to beat Pittsburgh in what would, indeed, be the program builder’s last game in Gampel.
Shabazz: “Onions”
February 20, 2012: Game tied in Philadelphia, the Huskies had the last shot in the first overtime. Shabazz Napier had the ball and launched it from far beyond the 3-point line, closer to half-court. It went in clean, the Huskies won. “Onions!” shouted Bill Raftery, who was announcing the game. It wasn’t to be the last big shot Napier, then a sophomore, would make in a UConn jersey.
Taliek ... from deep
March 9, 2002: It wasn’t a step-back, nor a buzzer-beater. But it was at Madison Square Garden against Pittsburgh. UConn up two, throwing it in-bounds with two seconds left on the shot clock and Taliek Brown, several feet back of the top of the key, launched a 3-pointer and made it. The Huskies went on to win that Big East final, 74-65, in that second OT.
The end of the beginning
March 9, 2013: No one was happy when the long marriages of the Big East broke up. It seemed everyone was talking about staying in touch, holding onto the rivalries out of conference, but it would not be easy. The great era was ending. In 2012-13, UConn, banned from postseason play, had little to play for except to notch a 20th win in Kevin Ollie’s first season as coach. Napier, hobbled with an ankle injury, wanted to play and laced up. Of course it was packed, and of course it went to overtime — it was still the Big East. Ryan Boatright made a clutch 3-point play to lift the Huskies past Providence, 63-59. That ended UConn’s history under the Big East banner. A new era begins Sunday vs. Creighton at noon.
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
