College Basketball

UConn edges BC in game that recalls Big East rivalry

The rivalry was dormant. It wasn’t dead.

Former Big East foes Connecticut and Boston College reignited their New England rivalry at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night and played for the first time in nearly nine years, with the 18th-ranked Huskies barely holding on for a 72-70 win in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic.

The Eagles, who battled back from an 11-point second-half deficit, had a chance to complete the upset after Shabazz Napier missed his second free throw of the final minute, but 6-foot Ryan Boatright blocked Lonnie Jackson’s 3-point try at the buzzer, off a full-court, Valparaiso-inspired inbounds play.

“It was like an old BC-UConn rivalry, coming down to the last possession and we gutted out a win,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. “I told the guys, without struggle, there’s no progress. We struggled tonight from the field, but we played defense. That’s how you win championships. You play defense.”

Connecticut (5-0) last played Boston College (1-4) just before the Eagles left for the ACC — prompting former Huskies coach Jim Calhoun to vow the teams would never play again as long as he was coaching. But the Huskies picked up where they left off, leading for the final 34 minutes and winning for the 29th time in the last 32 meetings.

DeAndre Daniels led the Huskies with 23 points, with Napier adding 20, while the Huskies committed only three turnovers.

Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, but the Eagles hit eight 3-pointers and 24-of-25 free throws, making the comeback behind Ryan Anderson’s 22 points.

Eagles guard Olivier Hanlan scored seven of his 19 points in the final two minutes, but was unable to convert a layup contested by Daniels in the final 10 seconds, which would have tied the game.

“I was proud of our guys hanging around,” Boston College coach Steve Donahue said. “It seems like we played really good basketball with the exception of shots that I think we normally make.”

During certain stretches of the game, it looked as if nothing had changed.

Connecticut was back on the Garden floor, the site of so many of its triumphs. The lower bowl was packed, the chants were familiar and the sight was the same, with row after row filled with the same fans that have flocked here every March, donning navy blue and rising on the game’s biggest possessions.

But then you remembered — the Huskies won’t be here when it matters. On the day the Big East Tournament begins, UConn will be in Memphis, playing for the American Athletic championship.

So, on Thursday night, in the shadow of Ray Allen’s last-minute leaner, a six-overtime classic and Kemba Walker’s five days of domination, UConn began a new era in New York in the newly transformed Garden.

“It’s nice to win anywhere, but coming to the Garden it’s the mecca of basketball [and] you always want to try and play as well as you can,” Napier said. “We kind of treated it like it was March.”
It was like old times. Almost.