In the Big East conference, it is likely to come down to UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley and Seton Hall basketball coach Shaheen Holloway for the conference coach of the year award, and Hurley gave Holloway a ton of credit for where he has the Pirates at this point in the season.

“Shaheen's a great coach, one of the best coaches you'll coach against,” Dan Hurley said, via Adam Zagoria of NJ.com.

Hurley has the UConn basketball program as the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Poll at 24-2 overall with a 14-1 record in Big East play heading into tonight's road game against No. 15 Creighton. This is coming off of last year's national championship victory. The one loss in Big East play came in the opener on the road against Seton Hall.

Holloway has the Seton Hall basketball program at 17-9 overall and 10-5 in Big East play, with impressive wins over UConn and Marquette. After picking up a road win against St. John's on Sunday, Seton Hall could be in good shape to be a tournament team this year.

Hurley, a former Seton Hall player, said he has a lot of respect for Holloway seeing him work his way up the ranks as a coach.

“I know I play him coming up, so I don't want to say too many good things about him,” Hurley said, via Zagoria. “Shaheen, I've known him for a long time, and to see a guy who was an assistant coach at Bloomfield Tech with Nick [Mariniello] grind out a career and become one of the best in the country at what he does, that you have respect for.”

UConn and Seton Hall will match up on Sunday, March 3 at Gampel Pavilion.