Welcome To Beantown
BOSTON -- Welcome to the TD BankNorth Garden for the Beantown debut of The Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase (the event debuted as the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge in Phoenix in December of last year). Our 3:30 tip-off will feature No. 19 Gonzaga (6-1) vs UConn (5-1) and the 6 p.m. game is a New England battle of former Big East rivals Boston College (5-0) and Providence College (4-1).
The Huskies are currently shooting around (mostly free throws for the 64 percent foul shooting Huskies) at the West end of the floor (Posting Up is positioned in the East End for today's event). Boston native Jim Calhoun is out early with his team (sans suit coat) and is standing right foul extended chatting up assistant George Blaney. Garden workers are cleaning the backboard in our endzone proving once and for all that they "do windows."
. . . Two intriguing match-ups at the home of the best team in the NBA - the Celtics, duh - as The Zags and UConn meet for the third time ever with all meetings coming on neutral floors. UConn has won both games and both have been memorable. The first one was a classic match-up in the 1999 Elite Eight that UConn won 67-62 on its way to its first national title. The more recent meeting came in the championship game of the 2005 Maui Invitational when the Huskies won 65-63 on a Denham Brown hook shot with 1.1 seconds left in the game.
. . . BC and PC, on the other hand, have met 101 prior times with the Friars holding a 56-45 edge. The most recent meeting was last season at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on Thanksgiving Eve with PC winning 73-64.
