St. John's' Rick Pitino Praises UConn Fans: 'Kentucky Of The East'
St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino knows he’ll be coaching in a raucous environment at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
It’s technically a home game for the Johnnies as they host Dan Hurley and the defending champion UConn Huskies, but there will be a strong and fiery contingent of UConn fans at MSG as the 18-8 unranked Huskies go for the upset over 23-4 St. John’s, the No. 10 team in all of the land.
Like Hurley, Pitino is the ultimate competitor. He realizes that good fans only enhance the product on the floor, which is why he’s excited to compete with Huskies fans aplenty in the arena on Sunday.
Ahead of the battle, Pitino compared UConn fans to fans from another enormous college basketball program.
"Connecticut’s the Kentucky of the East,” Pitino said, per Zagsblogs’ Adam Zagoria. “They travel great, and they show up everywhere. You know, they’re just like Kentucky. They’re the Eastern version of Kentucky, which is the highest compliment I can pay their fans."
UConn last visited MSG on December 14, and sure enough, UConn fans helped pack the world’s most famous arena, spurring the Huskies on toward a 77-71 upset victory over then No. 8-ranked Gonzaga.
As the Huskies take the court on Sunday at noon, they’ll be looking to avenge a home loss to Pitino and St. John’s on February 7.
It will take epic performances from guys like Tarris Reed Jr. and Liam McNeeley for UConn to come up with a win against one of the best teams in the nation.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org