Carnesecca Arena is going to get a high-profile league game next year.
After St. John’s knocked off Hofstra, 84-79, at UBS Arena on Saturday, Rick Pitino made the surprise announcement that he plans to play Connecticut in the small on-campus gym next year rather than Madison Square Garden.
Asked if he was serious about that, Pitino responded: “100 percent. We’re playing them at Carnesecca. It’s definitely not a joke. I have my reasons.”
Pitino was being asked about the different venues St. John’s plays at, and if he was disappointed about the limited crowd of 7,486 at UBS Arena on Saturday.
“We didn’t sell-out against Xavier. We didn’t have anybody come to Barclays [Center]. We don’t have an abundance of fans,” he said. “We’re not UConn or Villanova with fans, and there’s a reason. We lost the brand. Louie [Carnesecca] has been gone a long time. So we got to build the brand back and the people will come back.
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“This is a fabulous place. Locker rooms are great — everything about it is great. We only had like 7,400 people today. At Barclays [Center] we had 54 of my family and friends, and 11 people from St. John’s. So the Garden is the best place to play, and right now the only game that’s going to be played next year at Carnesecca is Connecticut. Every other game we’re going to negotiate.”
Connecticut fans have taken over the Garden since the Huskies returned to the Big East in 2020.
This would be one way to neutralize them.
The two teams meet this year at MSG on Feb. 3.
St. John’s last played UConn at Carnesecca Arena in 1990.
