– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — Relatively speaking, and definitely compared to his combustible, ejection-causing tirade in the regular-season finale, Connecticut head coach Danny Hurley was on his best behavior on Friday night, and that comportment carried over into the postgame press conference … at least until the very last word he uttered out of his mouth, on a question about how much he wants to win a second Big East Tournament title to go along with the two national titles he and his Huskies earned in 2023 and 2024.
“I think you know that. You’ve seen how I act. What do you think, man?
“S—!”
The groans from his players on the dais and the assembled media soon followed. So close to being clean, just like his team as it reached another tournament final under Hurley.
Connecticut turned a possibly tricky semifinal against a team with a second life into a routine 67-51 win over the Georgetown Hoyas to advance to the Big East Tournament championship game on Saturday night.Freshman Braylon Mullins led the Huskies with 21 points while big man Tarris Reed Jr. had a standout all-around performance with six points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
The Huskies, the No. 2 seed, will take on top-seed St. John’s, who dispatched Seton Hall in the first semifinal on Friday. It will be the third time the Johnnies and Huskies will face each other in the Big East’s showpiece event, with the previous two coming in back-to-back years, 1999 and 2000.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday’s Big East Tournament semifinals, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Dale Horton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 31 pictures in total.
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