UConn basketball’s Dan Hurley calls on UConn, St. John’s fans to unite for Big East ‘bloodbath’

UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley is hoping to have a “bloodbath” with Rick Pitino and his St. John’s team.

After the second-seeded Huskies beat No. 7 UCLA 73-57 and clinched a spot in the Sweet Sixteen, Hurley spoke on a potential Elite Eight meeting with Big East rival St. John’s.

“I just think us and St. John’s are two of the best teams in the country,” Hurley said. “And we obviously both hope for a meeting in DC, a fourth meeting. But I guess it stinks a little bit that they threw us both in the same region. It feels like the combination of St. John’s being underseeded, as well as putting both of us in the same region — I don’t want to get myself in trouble with the selection committee or the NCAA, but I’m not a rulebreaker, so I can’t make stuff up on me. But yeah, it’ll be a live building — it’s probably a little bit early — but we’ve gotta try to support each other. It’s pretty brutal on Twitter, I think, and social between our fan bases, but I think we kinda got to try to come together on Friday night against our opponents so that we can then have a bloodbath on Sunday.”

Dan Hurley hopes both UConn & St. John's makes it past the Sweet 16 so that they can have a "bloodbath" in the Elite 8 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/cgkWjRouKe

— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) March 23, 2026

To get the bloodbath he desires, Hurley’s Huskies will have to beat No. 3 Michigan State, and Pitino’s Red Storm will have to upset Duke, the first overall seed in the tournament.

St. John’s, despite being a fifth seed, edged out UConn for the Big East regular-season title before crushing the Huskies in the conference tournament finals 72-52. In the regular season, the teams split the series, with St. John’s beating then-No. 3 UConn in New York before being walloped 72-40 in Connecticut almost three weeks later.

Both teams will play on Friday in Washington, D.C.

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