R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin each scored 17 points to lead No. 20 Connecticut into the Big East semifinals with a 62-52 win over Seton Hall on Thursday night. The Huskies (23-8) face No. 8 Villanova next.
The atmosphere inside Madison Square Garden favored UConn from the moment starting lineups were introduced.
“That’s why you come to a place like UConn,” coach Dan Hurley said. “The place was rocking with UConn fans. Tomorrow’s gonna be insanity in here.”
The place was rocking with 19, 182 fans in attendance – mostly consisting of UConn nation.
Hurley’s right, UConn’s fan base brought back the feel of the Garden from over a decade ago. Jim Calhoun, UConn’s head coach at the time, was watching and smiling. The roar from the partisan UConn crowd when the scoreboard showed his face was further confirmation this was a road game for Seton Hall – just in case if they didn’t get the memo.
Cole, a first-team all-conference selection, kept the third-seeded Huskies’ hopes for both a conference tournament championship and an automatic NCAA Tournament bid alive with a series of big plays in the second half.
The experience of UConn’s big-play backcourt and overall toughness makes them a dangerous threat for their eighth Big East Tournament championship.
The sixth-seeded Pirates, meanwhile, had their six-game winning streak snapped. Myles Cale led Seton Hall (21-10) with 17 points and Kadary Richmond had 14.
While the Huskies move on to face Villanova in the semifinals, Seton Hall will regroup and rest while waiting to find out where they go as an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament.
