Jay Williams labels Dan Hurley-Rick Pitino biggest coaching rivalry in basketball

On Wednesday, UConn made a statement against St. John’s, running away with a 72-40 win. The blowout victory didn’t go unnoticed. During an appearance on First Take on Thursday, ESPN’s Jay Williams made a bold statement about the rivalry between UConn head coach Dan Hurley and St. John’s’ Rick Pitino.

“Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino is the biggest coaching rivalry we have in basketball right now,” Williams said. “I don’t know what other rivalries we have in the NBA, but I will tell you, Dan Hurley is one of the craziest coaches you’ll ever meet. He’s so passionate about it. You already know Coach Pitino. So, the fact that these two collided.

“Now, here’s my thing. They usually call Madison Square Garden, I think, Storrs South, right? Because they usually sell out Madison Square Garden. Now, last time they played this year, St. John’s won, and Rick Pitino went to the newspaper saying, ‘Oh, I think that was about 80, 90% red tonight.’ Like, ‘Oh, we took over the Garden again.’ I think that’s why Dan Hurley wanted to smack them at UConn.”

As Williams mentioned, Hurley’s victory on Wednesday was a touch of revenge. When UConn and St. John’s met earlier this season on February 6th, the Red Storm escaped with an 81-72 victory.

St. John’s hadn’t lost an outing since the triumph and entered Wednesday night’s contest on a 13-game win streak. Nonetheless, the Huskies made easy work of St. John’s.

In the loss, the Red Storm shot 11-56 (20%) from the field. Worse, St. John’s connected on just 2-of-28 (7.1%) field-goal attempts in the second half.

UConn recorded 42 points in the paint, compared to St. John’s mere 12. St. John’s 40 points are the fewest a Rick Pitino-coached team has ever scored in a single game. After the game, Pitino took blame for the Red Storm’s lackluster performance.

“It’s all on me,” Pitino said. “I’m very disappointed in our performance offensively, especially. Sharing the ball, moving the ball. It’s all on me. But we will get ready for Villanova. We are still playing for a league championship. Doesn’t matter whether you lose by 1 or 40,  league championship is still at stake. Obviously, we have to make our corrections and move on.”

If St. John’s wins all three of its remaining games, it can clinch a share of the Big East title for the second consecutive season under Pitino. Alas, Rick Pitino won’t have another chance to down Dan Hurley until the Big East Tournament.