NEW YORK, N.Y. – The last time Villanova faced Connecticut on Friday night in the BIG EAST Tournament, the Wildcats were an upstart group fighting to establish itself under the tutelage of a third-year head coach, Jay Wright. It was 2004 and thanks to some late game fireworks from a young core led by Randy Foye, Curtis Sumpter, and Allan Ray, the Wildcats had forged upsets of Seton Hall and Providence to reach the semifinals against the potent Huskies.
 
UConn prevailed on March 12, 2004, by a score of 84-67. But that March surge – which was later bolstered by a run to the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals – laid the foundation for a 2004-2005 campaign that saw Villanova win 24 games and return to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time in 17 years.
 
The journey back to this meeting has been filled with twists and turns. When the original BIG EAST split in 2013, the two programs found themselves in different leagues: UConn in the American Athletic Association, Villanova in the reconfigured BIG EAST. But the Huskies return to the BIG EAST helped renew a rivalry that was one of the nation's best in the 1990s and first decade of the 2000s.
 
The two teams split their regular season 2021-22 meetings. Villanova downed the Huskies 85-74 on Feb. 5 at the Wells Fargo Center. UConn edged the 'Cats 71-69 in a tight battle in Hartford on Feb. 22.
 
Friday night's encounter will be played before a sellout crowd of better than 19,000 at Madison Square Garden. It is scheduled to tip at approximately 9 p.m., following the first semifinal of the night between No. 1 seed Providence and No. 4 seed Creighton.
 
UConn advanced by virtue of its 62-52 win over Seton Hall Thursday. The Wildcats got two free throws from Brandon Slater and 19 points from Caleb Daniels, to outlast St. John's 66-65. Villanova trailed by 17 points early in the second half.
 
"We practice situations like this every day," said Daniels of a first half where the Wildcats connected on just 7-of-30 field goal attempts. "And to be honest, we have a love for each other. So we know, like, we're going to fight for each other -- every possession, one possession at a time, one stop at a time. And we're just going to gut it out each and every game. So that's pretty much the answer to that."
 
Collin Gillespie, who established a new program record for games played against St. John's (149) while adding 14 points and six rebounds, echoed Daniels thoughts about the grit the Wildcats showed Thursday evening.
"I think that's the kind of stuff we work on every day in practice, game situations," said Gillespie of the tight final minutes. "Our white team in practice does a great job of preparing us each and every day for each game. They push us make us better in practices.

"But I think it's just something that this group has dealt with all year. We've been in tough situations, and I think we've learned from tougher situations and just stuck together through it all."

Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and reporter Kristina Pink will lead the coverage on FS1 Friday night. Ryan Fannon and Whitey Rigsby will have the call on the Villanova IHeart Radio network.

Friday night's winner advances to the BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.