What is the best UConn basketball game of all time?

[Matrim55]

The thing I've always loved most about the '99 title team was their focus and determination. There were not going to be denied; period, end of story.

I've often wondered what a couple of subsequent teams would have done if they had a fraction of that team's will to win.

I've said it before on this board but I'll take the opportunity to say it again here: I was lucky enough to be the associate sports editor at the Daily Campus that year, and got to travel all over the country with that team. We went to Georgetown, Stanford, multiple trips to NYC, Syracuse, BC, and all the tournament games.

And there was no doubt in my mind, going into that Duke game, that they were going to win. Their will and professionalism was unmatched, and will likely remain so. I understand that other UConn teams have arguably been more talented, but nobody comes close to that 98-99 group in terms of mentality.

Put me down for the Big East Final against St John's. That first half was a clinic and St John's had their will crushed.

It was that 11-o run to start the 2nd half that really did it. By the first TV break this was Jarvis...

 

[Matrim55]

My god, look at how great this team was:



Somebody show tapes of how Hamilton moved off the ball to DHam, Rodney, Larrier, Jackson & Diallo, please.

 

[mauconnfan]

The first 2:45 of that game was a monster clinic. Breaks without the ball touching the ground, guys moving to find open spots on the floor, guarding people on D the Johnnies hardly got a shot off for about 3 trips at one time. Wow great memories.

 

[UCweCONN]

1999 National Title because it was our first title, a great game, and Coach K. said that Duke team was one of his best ever. #2 would be the 1996 Big East Championship win over Georgetown and Ray Allen's game winner.

 

[mauconnfan]

1976 ECAC Champs game, 1988 NIT Champs game, 1990 win over Clemson and loss to Duke (great game), 1995 loss to UCLA, 1999 #1 NCAA champ, 2004 NC Semi vs Duke

Too many to list, we're lucky

 

[RM99]

I was at the 1996 Big East Championsip game so that is a favorite. After Ray hit his shot I thought I'd have a heart attack as Georgetown missed at least three shots. Being at any big game is so exciting, but I have to say the 1999 championship is the greatest. Even from home. I can't even imagine how exciting it must have been to be there. So many fabulous memories and so many more to come!

 

[RedStickHusky]

I'll play the two game parlay from the 2014 FF; otherwise '99 ship. All three of those were 'giant killers'.

 

[4in16]

99 championship it's the one games score I'll never forget , 77-74.

 

[CTBasketball]

77-74
02' vs. Pitt
98' vs. Washington
90' vs. Clemson

And I think one of the best played games was 96' vs. Villanova at Gampel. Kittles vs. Allen, with the later having a night.

 

[FartMan69]

If only we had won the 6 OT affair..but '04 semi's V. Duke

 

[UConnTrumbull]

MSU '14 best non-championship game ever. Felt like we won a title though.

 

[Matrim55]

I'll play the two game parlay from the 2014 FF...

Am I a heretic if I say the Elite 8 win over Michigan State was, in its way, better? Whether we'd won the title or not just getting to the Final 4 was the real hurdle for Ollie (and those of us who were around in the '80s & '90s remember it was for Calhoun), and once it was taken the rest was house money.

Add in that it was MSG, that Izzo is universally regarded as one of the all-time great coaches, and that Sparty had sort of become the favorites... I honestly remember that game better than the Florida or UK games. And if there's one game from that run I'd want to show to somebody to get them to understand what UConn basketball is, that's it.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Some of my favorites include 77-74 obviously, but also 06 @Syracuse (what a romping), 09 @Louisville, 14 vs MSU @MSG.

Was that 06 Syracuse game the one where Gay, Hilton, and Denham(I think) ran a 3 man weave in Syracuse's half leading to a dunk? I think it was at home but it could've been in the Carrier Dome. Just epitomized mid 2000's UConn basketball.

 

[dtrumpet]

We really have been pretty damn lucky.
Since the wins are pretty easy ( but fun) to identify, I'll step out of the box a little. The best games that we lost. The 1995 loss to Tyus Edney and UCLA, and the 2002 loss to Juan Dixon and Maryland in the Carrier Dome. The second half of that game, with Dixon and Caron going back and forth with each team on their backs, absolutely tremendous.

 

[BUConn10]

Was that 06 Syracuse game the one where Gay, Hilton, and Denham(I think) ran a 3 man weave in Syracuse's half leading to a dunk? I think it was at home but it could've been in the Carrier Dome. Just epitomized mid 2000's UConn basketball.

It was basically Marcus, Rudy and Rashad just running absolute train on the orange in the first half. At one point in the 1H it was like 43-18

 

[RedStickHusky]

Am I a heretic if I say the Elite 8 win over Michigan State was, in its way, better? Whether we'd won the title or not just getting to the Final 4 was the real hurdle for Ollie (and those of us who were around in the '80s & '90s remember it was for Calhoun), and once it was taken the rest was house money.

Add in that it was MSG, that Izzo is universally regarded as one of the all-time great coaches, and that Sparty had sort of become the favorites... I honestly remember that game better than the Florida or UK games. And if there's one game from that run I'd want to show to somebody to get them to understand what UConn basketball is, that's it.

that whole run was magical, especially after dodging that first round bullet, we were unburdened in terms of expectations... the final four narrative, to me, was how florida would reverse the early season fluke loss to UConn and how Ky was bringing in an NBA team...

 

[businesslawyer]

We really have been pretty damn lucky.
Since the wins are pretty easy ( but fun) to identify, I'll step out of the box a little. The best games that we lost. The 1995 loss to Tyus Edney and UCLA, and the 2002 loss to Juan Dixon and Maryland in the Carrier Dome. The second half of that game, with Dixon and Caron going back and forth with each team on their backs, absolutely tremendous.

77 -- 74 was the best win. As many great wins as we had, it really isn't close when you combine the quality of the game, the stage and what it meant to our program. O.K. -- and it was Duke.

I like the question what was the best loss. The answer to that has to be it was a huge game and you left it with your hear held high, saying that was a great game and we were just beaten by a team that was better that night. So the answer is easy -- it was the loss to Maryland at the Carrier Dome in '02. I drove home from that game and 4 years later from DC after the loss to Mason, and it was entirely different. I can't believe we didn't get it done against Mason still today. I was not sad driving home from Syracuse. When you give it your best shot and lose to someone else who gave it their best shot and was better, you have to be proud in what you did and not worry that it wasn't enough.

 

[Waquoit]

1999 National Title because it was our first title, a great game, and Coach K. said that Duke team was one of his best ever.

I like this thread because it gives me a chance to repost this entry from Suck.com. (Suck was an early website that posted daily essays on pop culture and stuff)

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I like the question what was the best loss.

Hands downs the best loss ever was in the Connecticut Mutual Classic when getting blown out by Northeastern gave (then AD) Toner the leverage necessary to fire Perno and bring in Northeastern's head coach to run our program.

 

[Matrim55]

I like the question what was the best loss. The answer to that has to be it was a huge game and you left it with your hear held high, saying that was a great game and we were just beaten by a team that was better that night. So the answer is easy -- it was the loss to Maryland at the Carrier Dome in '02. I drove home from that game and 4 years later from DC after the loss to Mason, and it was entirely different. I can't believe we didn't get it done against Mason still today. I was not sad driving home from Syracuse. When you give it your best shot and lose to someone else who gave it their best shot and was better, you have to be proud in what you did and not worry that it wasn't enough.

I get what you're saying, but I remember after that game thinking "S***, Caron is gone. No way we'll be an elite team without him."

So for me, the best loss was actually the Texas game in 2003. We played as well as we could and got beat by a more experienced team, but after that game I just knew we were going to win it all in 2004. I was grinning ear-to-ear.

 

[UConnNick]

The NC games, obviously, but in the unlikeliest of wins category, the 1970 slowdown game vs URI for the Yankee Conference title. We had something like two starters and another player declared ineligible a few days before the game due to an alleged theft on campus (all of whom later exonerated). We held the ball for the entire game (no shot clock in those days) and the Rams got increasingly frustrated. It was 14-11 at halftime and we won the game 35-32 at the old Field House. That was Dee Rowe's first season. For those who didn't see it you'd think it was boring as heck to watch, but it was a test of wills, and we outwilled a vastly superior opponent. It was a fascinating game to watch because slowdown games of that era rarely worked for the underdog.

 

[BUConn10]

Best game might be the win at Arizona in 2002. A lot of lottery picks playing at a high level. Caron might have been the eighth best player that night.

Favorite after the final horn is 77-74. Not necessarily the best game because it did get a little sloppy for five minutes in the second half (from about 8:00-3:00, when Rip hit the three to go up five).

Favorite for how much I enjoyed it in progress might be a toss up between Alabama in the Elite Eight, Georgia Tech in the finals, and St. John's in the 1999 BET game. And, hell with it, I love the way we squished Butler like a bug in the second half. Everyone else says it was an ugly final, but it was a defensive masterpiece to me.

Just rewatched that 2002 game @Arizona, thanks for the reminder. Great game, that team just exuded toughness by hanging tough to get the game into OT and then quickly coming back from a 7 point deficit in OT when it looked to be slipping away in a matter of seconds. You could also tell in that game that the freshmen Okafor and Gordon were both going to be stars, EO had a near triple-double with blocks by games end. The only sad thing in that game was being reminded how our teams throughout the 2000's were truly just chock full of NBA talent, both starters and freshmen. It feels like ages (2012 probably was the last year but still then it was only really 2 guys, AD and JL) since we have had one of those teams that has had multiple classes with NBA players, guys that were gonna declare this year and guys that were gonna declare next. These days it seems like they are all "maybe if they get their act together" type draft prospects, with Hamilton being the only UConn player I can ever really see being a 1st round pick, and even that is a toss up and not a guarantee.

 

[UCHuskies08]

UCONN/PITT, March 2011 to win the Big East tournament. Kemba Walker's last second ankle breaker...CLASSIC!

 

[Ts5034]

I get what you're saying, but I remember after that game thinking "S***, Caron is gone. No way we'll be an elite team without him."

So for me, the best loss was actually the Texas game in 2003. We played as well as we could and got beat by a more experienced team, but after that game I just knew we were going to win it all in 2004. I was grinning ear-to-ear.

Great point. I knew as soon as the bracket was released it would be very hard to beat Texas in San Antonio if we both made it to the Sweet 16. I was upset we lost that game but also proud of the fight they showed coming back like they did in what was essentially a road game vs one of the best teams in the country. Five minutes after that game ended, I couldnt wait for the 03-04 season to start because I knew we would have a very talented team that was motivated to avenge that loss.

I will never forget watching the channel 8 news interview with Rashad Anderson that night when he said something like "we will be back here next year in the Final Four, its a guarantee". That Texas game was at the Alamodome which was obviously the site of the 2004 Final Four.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Of course 77-74 is #1. My 2nd favorite game would have to be when we beat G`Town back in `90 because i knew we were for real and the rest of the country started to take notice.

 

[UConnfan4ever]

1988 NIT title game at MSG 72-67 over Ohio State.

 

[Waquoit]

1988 NIT title game at MSG 72-67 over Ohio State.

But the best game in that run was in the Field House against VCU. Loudest crowd in UConn history.

 

[mauconnfan]

But the best game in that run was in the Field House against VCU. Loudest crowd in UConn history.

Agree as they say the dust was falling down right in front of us. Crazy wild crowd. lot of fun that night. In all actuality the Ohio St game was the 4th best game. I think the WVU was better and certainly Lyman DePriest holding Dana Barros to 2 pts in the 2nd half of the semi after he went off for 25 in the first was tremendous also. We were at the Garden for that one, didn't get back for the Buckeyes.

 

[storrsroars]

Best game was easily 77-74.

Best loss? I'm going to go with 78-79 OT in 1990. Tate doesn't lose the ball out of bounds, somebody covers Laettner, UConn is in the FF nine years earlier. Duke loses that game, UConn spares the nation from having to hear about the legend of Laettner.

Best moment in a loss? Clearly Rod Sellers dribbling Laettner's head, lol.

 

[Palatine]

There's no contest. It has to be 77-74. Not only was it historic. It was a great game.

Runner up, who performs the duties of the greatest game if for any reason the greatest game is unable to perform its duties.....Clemson sweet sixteen, the shot. It packed more drama into one second then some teams do into a whole season.