Rick Pitino has done some not-nice things in life, but that guy can coach. College hoops is better when St. John's is relevant and NYC is engaged. That's a basketball town. That said, winning at UConn ... big step. And we should note this is on campus, not in Hartford, where it's kinda lame (Whalers not included; Top 5 nickname/sports logo ever). There will be a HC advantage. And the Huskies just played arguably their best game of the season last time out in dominating Top 10 Marquette on the road. There was going to be a transition period after losing a lot off last year's repeat champions, but you can see it coming together now for Dan Hurley's bunch.

Freshman forward Liam McNeeley was a “game-day decision” prior to UConn’s road win at Marquette, so my expectation is that he’ll go for the Huskies in this massive showdown with St. John’s. They’ll also have the advantage of getting this game in Gampel Pavilion, where the Friday night crowd should be absolutely electric in support of the two-time reigning national champs. Rick Pitino has this St. John’s team playing at an elite level defensively and Kadary Richmond has leveled up to be an X-factor in recent weeks, but this is the wrong building and the wrong team to put a nine-game winning streak on the line.

Everyone is hyping up the Johnies. Pitno this and Pitino that. Hmm. Which program has dominated this region forever? Which program isn't getting much attention after an oddly slow start? Hmm. St. John's has issues offensively and misses a lot of foul shots. You can get away with it in The Garden, but the road is a different story. Dan Hurley is a master motivator and SJ might be running into a buzzsaw here. Huskies are 3-0 vs. ranked teams and 10-1 at home. Experience matters and UConn will clamp down defensively. Hurley will have them just angry enough.