Rick Pitino and the St. John's Red Storm had the opportunity to pull off an upset in the Big East Tournament Semifinals going up against the defending NCAA champion UConn Huskies. They fell short in their attempt, 95-90. St. John's will hope for a little luck from the seeding committee to make the NCAA Tournament. But in the meantime, Pitino, who used to coach at powerhouse Kentucky, sees UConn shaping up to be in the same mold as per Big East reporter Ryan Cassidy.

“I coached a lot of years at Kentucky,” Rick Pitino said. “They are the Kentucky of the East. They have the greatest fanbase in this part of the country.”

UConn is awaiting the winner between Marquette and Providence who are squaring off in the other Big East Tournament Semifinal. Despite losing Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo to the NBA, UConn has managed to stay an elite team and will likely be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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UConn finished this season at 30-3 overall and 18-2 in Big East Conference play. Last season, they came into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed. They advanced all the way to the championship game where they defeated San Diego State to claim the school's fifth NCAA championship.

This is the first time the Huskies are back in the Big East championship game since 2011 when Kemba Walker was on the team. Against St. John's, the Huskies were led by Tristen Newton's 25 points. Cam Spencer added 20 points and Alex Karaban had 14.