NEW YORK — Here it was, the point of Connecticut rejoining the Big East Conference, a packed Madison Square Garden for a late Friday night game in March … “Let’s go Huskies” filling the Garden air. UConn fans, a huge part of the 19,812 crowd inside, up on their feet in joy, or up in arms.
Villanova played the foil. By now, the Wildcats play it so well, the school every Big East team wants to beat, seemingly impervious to crowds or stakes.
The Wildcats advance to Saturday’s Big East final after a 63-60 victory over UConn. Since 2015, Villanova has played 23 games at Madison Square Garden, won 20 of them. They’ve played six Big East semifinals in that time, won all of them. Next up, Creighton, which had earned its way to the final earlier by decimating Providence, the Big East regular-season champ.
