Favorite UConn game (W or L) ever

[muhmitchell]

Mine has got to be the 6 OT game
and as a little extra: add in your favorite non-UConn game ever
Mine would be UCLA-Gonzaga when Adam Morrison had his breakdown

 

[BFieldHusky]

Beating Duke in 99 for our first title. Best feeling ever.

 

[UconnU]

The last game we played... it meant soo much to the program to win that ship after what we had went through(bs apr ban, conf realignment, all the major sports media outlets picking against us). A game has finally trumped duke in 99 for our first.

 

[UCONNfan1]

I have to go with the NC we just won. I do agree that the NC over Duke in 99 is a close second. I think the 6 OT loss to Syracuse might rank as one of the most exciting games ever, but it's far from a favorite of mine.

The most recent NC because it's the first in the new Ollie era. Established him literally right out the gate as the perfect heir to HOF'er Calhoun. I take this IMHO slightly above the 1st NC because I'm looking at the future of UCONN in a crap conference (yeah we are making the most of it), but at least our future looks very very bright.

Our first NC is my 2nd all time fave - we shocked the world. But Shabazz metaphorically flipping off the NCAA was the most awesome thing ever...

 

[Horatio]

-1999 championship
-Every game vs. St. John's game when they had Jarvis as head coach with Barkley and Postell. Those were epic.
- 2011 vs. San Diego St.
-2011 vs. Pitt in the Big East Tourny
- Caron's last game vs. Maryland in the NCAA 's.
- 2014 vs Michigan St.
- 2014 championship
- Big East Championship vs. Georgetown ( Ray vs. Iverson )
- 2011 vs . Texas. Roscoes signature moment.
- Various Games involving Jerome , Johnnie and Super Tone .

 

[elduderino]

'90 NCAA vrs. Clemson - One of the first games I can remember my parents letting me stay up to watch. My uncle had T-shirts made of the Courant front page. "It's late. It's Great. It's Tate."

Distant 2nd. Was at the Garden for Ray Allen's shot over Gtown.

 

[J187Money]

Allen v Iverson. One of the last games I took my dad to. Big Red was on Metro-North leading the cheers back to CT.

Also loved the 2004 semi v Duke. But was in SA alone which took some of the pleasure from it.

 

[Hoophound]

Allen v Iverson. One of the last games I took my dad to. Big Red was on Metro-North leading the cheers back to CT. Also loved the 2004 semi v Duke. But was in SA alone which took some of the pleasure from it.

I didn't like the Georgetown game. Ray made a lucky shot to win and we struggled all game. That game made me very nervous heading into the NCAA even though we won.

 

[Hoophound]

'90 NCAA vrs. Clemson - One of the first games I can remember my parents letting me stay up to watch. My uncle had T-shirts made of the Courant front page. "It's late. It's Great. It's Tate." Distant 2nd. Was at the Garden for Ray Allen's shot over Gtown.

I was watching with my parents. They are alums but not die hard fans. I was so heartbroken that I turned the tv off because I couldn't bear to watch the game end. They yelled at me to turn it back on saying "you never know". I just thought, "there's no chance, but these idiots don't know squat about basketball."

 

[J187Money]

I didn't like the Georgetown game. Ray made a lucky shot to win and we struggled all game. That game made me very nervous heading into the NCAA even though we won.

It was a bad game in a lot of ways but the atmosphere was crazy.

 

[uconNYC]

The Maui Kentucky game is up there.

 

[nomar]

Beating Duke in 99 for our first title. Best feeling ever.

This. I can't imagine ever feeling better after a UConn game. Getting that monkey off our back and stopping the media-anointed "best team" from winning another title was just incredible. Watching Vitale's face crumble on national TV was just icing on the cake.

 

[Inyatkin]

I could live to be 120 and nothing would top 77-74. It's not possible.

My favorite loss, if there is such a thing, was the Gampel game to Georgetown last season when Omar hit the 3 to send it to OT. Really showed what the group was capable of.

 

[aceboon]

Duke in 99 is a pretty easy answer for me, with the runner up being Florida in this year's FF. I know part of it has to be due to it being so fresh and stuck in my mind, but from 16-4 down to the ending its harder to find a more personally satisfying watch over at least the last 5 years when you consider the stakes that were involved. Since the end of the season I've watched that game more than the UK final.

 

[Fishy]

Honestly, it might be this year's title game.

I could sense the air coming out of the rest of the country when UConn refused to die when Calhoun retired, the Big East was killed, etc., etc.

 

[Kitaman]

Best was 99 Duke but my favorite was the the UConn/MSU game in Germany. New season and again we were underdogs with a brand new Coach. It was nationally televised and was Ollie's first real test as a Coach. First game for our team and coach, so much on the line (to me it felt that way). No one knew what to expect.

That victory not only cemented the fact that UConn ball is very much alive but also that our future would not change. I knew then that we would be okay. The very next season proved all of that true. My favorite.

 

[Gurleyman]

I have long opined that the 1999 title game was darn near close to a perfect sporting event. It checked every box:

1) The monkey off the back factor to a long-suffering fan base
2) The schadenfreude factor of beating a hated rival and making their lives miserable
3) The shock the world factor of winning as a heavy underdog (deserved or not, Vegas had us a 9.5 point dog).
4) The enjoyability factor of the game being well-played and entertaining throughout
5) The sudden euphoria factor of the outcome not being determined until the final play

I suppose Villanova could check most of those boxes in 1985, but I'm not sure how long-suffering they were - the Big East was only five years old. And while they probably didn't like Georgetown, they couldn't have had the same bile in their throats that we had for Duke. The Red Sox coming back from 3-0 against the Yankees is a fair parallel - they still had to beat the Cardinals, but were much longer suffering, which cancels that out. And Game 7 being a blowout is canceled out by the comeback.

Not to pick on the OP's point, but the 6OT game was pretty dreadful basketball for the last hour. Cuse just stood in a zone and we stood around on offense to save energy - then at the other end, we didn't really try to guard them, just funnel them into Thabeet (until he fouled out). I was ready for that game to end 3 or 4 overtimes before it did. I think teams knew that bigger games were ahead (the next day for the winner) so it didn't have the do or die passion or drama that an NCAA Tournament or conference championship game would have.

 

[Hoophound]

Honestly, it might be this year's title game. I could sense the air coming out of the rest of the country when UConn refused to die when Calhoun retired, the Big East was killed, etc., etc.

I would rank this year second, behind 99'. However, you are absolutely right that 14' is very satisfying. It also really helped those of us that are in CR induced depression to relax and smile a little.

 

[amory]

It's a more fun thread if you eliminate championship games as an option, IMO.

My favorite will always be the first "big" game I ever attended as a student on campus. February 2006 against #2 Villanova at Gampel.

It was a coming of age experience. Both teams had legitimate national championship aspirations that year (Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry for them, and maybe our most talented team ever with Gay, Boone, Shad, Adrien, Armstrong, Marcus Williams et al) and they had just beaten us in Philly only a couple weeks prior which was only our second loss of the year.

Everyone in the freshman class, whether they were a basketball fan or not, knew this was the game you needed to go to. I didn't have much money in my bank account at the time, and I think student tickets were going for 60 or 70 bucks apiece. My friend and I each managed to get one.

Amazing atmosphere. We beat the out of them, 89-75. Made me feel like a true Husky for the first time.

 

[uconnever]

Uconn vs arizona carons last year and Ben and Emeka as freshman have their coming out party as we get the win in overtime been looking for a replay of that game for years.

 

[noeynox]

Honestly, it might be this year's title game.

I could sense the air coming out of the rest of the country when UConn refused to die when Calhoun retired, the Big East was killed, etc., etc.

Yeah, remember when talking head idiots claimed UConn could still be like an east coast Gonzaga. That was a slap in the face to UConn and it didn't take long for us to silence the critics.

Personally I loved seeing K choke on his own saliva in the 2004, final four as we mounted the comeback to take that game. The Nit Title game, The first big east tournament title in 90. Too many.

 

[elduderino]

It was a bad game in a lot of ways but the atmosphere was crazy.

That was my first game at MSG, not bad for a middle school kid. I thought the building was gonna come down at the end.

 

[CTBasketball]

One of my favorites was in 2009 when we beat Missouri to go to the Final 4. It was Kemba Walker's coming out party and right then I knew he was going to win us a championship.

 

[Matrim55]

1990 Gampel opener
1990 BET win over Georgetown
1996 BET win over Georgetown
1999 national title
2002 Elite 8
2004 national title
2011 national title
2014 Elite 8

For some reason I found the Elite 8 win over Michigan State more satisfying than the title win. I think it was a combination of the venue, the fact that we were playing a team I respect, and a team I thought could beat us.

I also thought that, existentially, getting to the Final 4 was the "UConn's still here, " moment. Winning the title was icing on the cake.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Beating Duke in 99 for our first title. Best feeling ever.

This. Nothing tops this one for me. I was living in NC at the time and my boss' mom was a member of the Duke Board of Trustees. He talked a lot leading up to the game. Called out "sick" the day after. Didn't speak to me for 3 days. I waited, never said a word. Once he said hello....I went in on him!