If you had to pick 1 game...

[David 76]

This will probably be unpopular but for me its UConn Butler 2011 Championship. Ugliest game I've ever seen but we asserted our will at the end and for all of Kemba's work to be rewarded with a championship was just priceless to me. Helped that I was a student at the time as well.

There was some awesome defense in that game.

 

[TheRogers]

1996 BET Tournament
Husky toughness never seen gives up and claws back in the closing minutes
Our freshman pg plays big against Iverson
Our leader seals the deal

OR

2004 BET
Tough physical game where we claw back into the game
The dagger drive by Gordon against 2 Pitt defenders

 

[Husky25]

77-74. That is all.

 

[Marat]

Its really hard to pick just one game. We've been very fortunate with success and there are just so many big wins and emotional moments. But if forced to pick one game, its hard to argue against UConn beating Duke in 1999 for the National Championship. That was the game when UConn finally reached the pinnacle of college basketball when most everyone did not give them a chance to win that game.

 

[Husky25]

I didn't think there was another answer.

To me, there is no other choice for a reason. In this context someone can probably deduce what 60-54, 53-41, and 82-73 have in common. But very few know exactly what is being referenced when those numbers are read outside a Memorable UConn basketball game thread.

There is no ambiguity to 77-74.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

Burrell to George, the shot

Same for me, I remember watching this game with my mom and dad and my mom never watched sports. I was 12 at the time.

 

[guyergym]

The 1999 final against Duke will always be my favorite game ever, but to show where everything started, I'll mention a game I've mentioned here before.

My senior year, 1986-87, was Jim Calhoun's first. Cliff Robinson and Phil Gamble were lost to academics at the start of the second semester, leaving the team extremely thin. The last game of the regular season was at the Civic Center against a Seton Hall team featuring many of the players who went to the NCAA final two years later.

After Greg Economou and Steve Pikiell cracked heads, they both had to leave, leaving the Huskies with a lineup of Gerry Besselink, Jeff King, Tate George, Spider Ursery and James Spradling. At one point, Spradling had to go to the bench to have a cut bandaged, and Brian Hall, the soccer goalie, had to come in until Spradling could re-enter.

And despite all that, with Calhoun working the team and the rerfs, the team fought and clawed and pulled out a 60-58 win. I don't know how many of us were at the Civic Center that day, maybe 9,000, but I left that game knowing that good things were going to happen under Jim Calhoun. To me, THAT'S when UConn basketball was born.