NEW YORK – Marquette, the league’s reigning champion, is the only foe between the UConn men’s basketball program and its eighth Big East Tournament title on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles knocked UConn out of the tournament last season after a 70-68 thriller in the semifinal round.
“It’s special, we’ve had this goal on our mind since June at least, for the returners since that loss to Marquette which stung us,” Karaban said. “The opportunity to cut down nets is special and just doing that in general, having the chance to see the confetti fall for UConn, that’s something that we want to achieve and add history to this program.”
UConn swept the regular season series with Marquette, winning a blow-out in Hartford on Feb. 17, 81-53, before a 74-67 win in Milwaukee on March 6. The Golden Eagles did not have star point guard Tyler Kolek, who’s missed the last five games with an oblique injury, for the second matchup. Kolek’s status is not clear for Saturday’s game.
Marquette advanced to the final after beating Providence, 79-68, on Friday night, behind 23 points from guard Kam Jones and 20 from center Oso Ighodaro.
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What to know
Site: Madison Square Garden, New York
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Records: 1-seed UConn: 30-3, 3-seed Marquette: 25-8
Series history: UConn leads, 10-8
Last meeting: March 6, 2024 – No. 2 UConn 74, No. 8 Marquette 67 at Fiserv Forum
TV: FOX
Radio: UConn Sports Network on 97.9 WUCS – Mike Crispino and Wayne Norman
Pregame reading:
