Sport Men's basketball Meetings total 93 | Next meeting December 5, 2017 | |
First meeting 1/27/1956
Syracuse 102, Connecticut 82 Latest meeting 12/5/2016
Connecticut 52, Syracuse 50 All-time series Syracuse leads 55–38 (.591) | ||
The Connecticut–Syracuse men's basketball rivalry is an American college basketball rivalry between the Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team of the University of Connecticut and Syracuse Orange men's basketball team of Syracuse University. Syracuse leads the all-time series 55–38.
History
The first game played between the two schools took place on January 27, 1956, in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse won 102–82.
The rivalry peaked while both teams were members of the Big East Conference from 1979 to 2013. The rivalry featured two Hall of Fame coaches, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun. One of the highlights was the historic Big East Tournament quarterfinal game in 2009. The game took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City where Syracuse won 127-117 in a game that went to six overtimes, ending at 1:22 AM.
In November 2015, after the teams met in the Bahamas, both Kevin Ollie and Jim Boeheim expressed interest in renewing the rivalry. Boeheim said, "It was like an NCAA game early in the year, It's a tremendous atmosphere. A tremendous game. It really was. I think there's a reasonable likelihood that we will play Connecticut again someday soon." Ollie said, "It's something that we're definitely looking at, It would be a great thing. It's a great rivalry."
On November 3, 2016, it was reported that UConn and Syracuse will meet again in 2017 at the Jimmy V Classic on December 5, 2017.