HARTFORD, Conn. – Kevin Ollie grew up during the glory days of the Big East Conference. Even though his home was in Los Angeles, Ollie was a loyal viewer of the Big Monday games that helped the conference spread its basketball message from coast to coast.
The fourth-year Connecticut coach, who wore the Huskies uniform from 1991-95, would dash home from school, tune the television to ESPN, and watch classic battles involving Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova, UConn and all the rest.
As UConn prepares to renew its rivalry with Georgetown on Saturday, Ollie is trying to educate his players about the “great atmosphere and great history” that was lost when conference realignment sent Big East programs scattering in a variety of directions. “We’re trying to give our fans what they’ve been dying for since the Big East got dismantled,” said Ollie, who expects UConn to have a contract with Syracuse completed in time for the first game next season.
Ollie remembers the special battles with Georgetown, playing Allen Iverson, coaches Jim Calhoun and “Big John Thompson” staring each other down from opposite sidelines, and all the imagery of the Georgetown program.
“We wouldn’t cut our hair, before [playing] Georgetown,” Ollie said. “We wanted to be as rugged as them. My senior year I think we beat them all three times.”
Ollie said that with a touch of uncertainty, but you’d better believe he remembers UConn had swept three games from the Hoyas in 1995. He probably could have produced the final scores if anyone had challenged him.
Georgetown leads the all-time series 35-29. The teams first met in 1958 and the series was tied 3-3 when they first clashed in Big East play in 1980.
Here’s a look back at five of the most memorable and meaningful games between UConn and Georgetown:
UConn 75, Georgetown 74
March 9, 1996, Big East Conference tournament, Madison Square Garden, New York. Any list starts with this one at No. 1. This game was more than two rivals going back and forth in the world’s most famous arena. This was Ray Allen. This was Allen Iverson. The winner took home the Big East championship trophy, but it felt as if the Huskies and Hoyas were playing for the national title. It’s still considered one of the best games in the history of the Big East tournament – and that’s saying something. UConn had the last word on Allen’s crazy off-balance jump shot from the right side with 13.6 seconds remaining. That basket completed a 12-0 run by the Huskies over the final 4 minutes, 24 seconds, an epic comeback that gave the Huskies the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region of the NCAA tournament. Georgetown had two good shots before the buzzer but missed both. Allen scored 17 points but he had missed his previous 14 shots. Allen called it a “heave” and a “lucky roll.” Coach Jim Calhoun said, “Only the great ones can do that.”
UConn, 70, Georgetown 65
January 20, 1990, Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Conn. Five days after upsetting No. 5 Syracuse on ESPN’s Big Monday, the Huskies grabbed the nation’s attention by blocking No. 2 Georgetown’s path to the top of the polls. The Hoyas arrived at the Civic Center undefeated and poised to become the No. 1 team after the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks had lost earlier in the day. The game opened in unexpected fashion as UConn scored the first 14 points. Nadav Henefeld, the Israeli import who was on his way to becoming a UConn legend in one season, had 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. John “Microwave” Gwynn scored 15 points in 15 minutes off the bench. “The Huskies are in the midst of a sweet winter dream. And they weren’t about to be disturbed,” were the words I selected for my game story for The Hartford Courant.
UConn 65, Georgetown 60
March 10, 1990, Big East Conference tournament, Madison Square Garden, New York. One of the true highlights of UConn’s Dream Season came with three consecutive victories in three days at The Garden. The Huskies, led by MVP Chris Smith, defeated Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Syracuse to win their first Big East tournament championship. They took down this Georgetown team that included Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo in the semifnal game.”Connecticut is a good basketball team,” Hoyas coach John Thompson said. ”Their coach has done one of the most outstanding jobs I’ve ever seen in my 18 years.” After celebrating the championship victory over Syracuse with a Garden party, the Huskies gathered together in New York to watch the NCAA tournament selection show. UConn was part of the field for the first time in 11 seasons. The Huskies were awarded the No. 1 seed in the East and opened play at the Hartford Civic Center. The next day, Calhoun grabbed his daily cup of coffee at the Sugar Shack doughnut shop in Storrs – and left the Big East trophy on display for customers to see.
Georgetown 77, UConn 65
February 19, 1996, USAir Arena, Landover, Md. The Hoyas dialed up one of their classic defensive performances, harkening back to the intimidation of Patrick Ewing’s era, and snapped UConn’s school-record winning streak of 23 games. UConn hadn’t lost since falling to Iowa in the Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 24. The Huskies were trying to become the first team to start 15-0 in the Big East but left Landover at 24-2 and 14-1. Allen Iverson had 26 points and eight steals for the Hoyas, who put together a 20-3 run in the first half. Ray Allen managed just 13 points. “I won’t put this game behind us,” Jim Calhoun said. “I’ll put this game in front of us.”
5 December 2015: Syracuse Orange head coach designate Mike Hopkins greets former Georgetown Hoyas head coach John Thompson Jr. at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. where the Georgetown Hoyas defeated the Syracuse Orange, 79-72. (Photograph by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire)
Georgetown 79, UConn 78 (2 OT)
February 27, 2013, Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn. In the final meeting between the two rivals as members of the Big East Conference, the Hoyas and Huskies turned back the clock and staged a classic. No. 7 Georgetown won in double overtime as Otto Porter Jr. (22 points) hit the winning basket to lift the Hoyas to their 10th consecutive victory. “That was a hell of a basketball game right there,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said, while heaping praise on the Huskies, who were nearing the end of their season with a postseason ban handed down by the NCAA for academic reasons. “The guys in the other locker room, they could have cashed it in,” Thompson III said. The Huskies showed an enormous amount of heart and Ollie was proud of his players. “I thought I had seen it all, but I guess I haven’t,” Ollie said. “Adversity is the intersection between character and opportunity. This team has character and we had a great opportunity.”
Senior guard Omar Calhoun was nearing the end of his freshman season for the Huskies when Georgetown won for the first time in four tries at Gampel. He hit a clutch 3-pointer with the clock running down in regulation that forced the first overtime period. He considers it the biggest shot of his UConn career.
“In that type of atmosphere, that was definitely a big shot,” Calhoun said. “I’d say that was probably the biggest shot I’ve hit so far [at UConn].”
Calhoun came to UConn from Brooklyn, N.Y. Like Ollie, he was a fan of the Big East and had hoped he would be part of the tradition and the rivalries. He said he still talks to senior teammate Phil Nolan about the Big East.
That’s why he is looking forward to Saturday’s game (XL Center, noon).
“When I came here it was still the Big East, so I came here wanting to be a part of that,” Calhoun said. “I definitely miss it. The Big East was just different. The atmosphere was different, the rivalries, the coaching matchups. Everything was so different. This game with Georgetown should be very exciting.”
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