Dan Hurley says St. John's basketball is 'clearly an NCAA Tournament team'

There is no love lost between Dan Hurley and the St. John's basketball team but the UConn head coach knows how good the Red Storm are.

After the Huskies' 95-90 victory in the Big East Tournament Semifinals, Hurley said in his opening statement that the Johnnies should have more meaningful games on its schedule.

"I don't know what seed they'll be, but that's one of the better teams we've played," the Big East Coach of the Year said.

"One of the more talented teams, and clearly an NCAA Tournament team."

Most projections do have St. John's in the tournament but things can change quickly for a bubble team over the next two days with 'bid stealers' still alive in at least the ACC, PAC-12, and AAC.

It's likely, should the Johnnies hear its named called on Selection Sunday, it will either be in the First Four, or in the Round of 64 as a 10-seed or an 11-seed that doesn't get sent to Dayton.

The last time the Johnnies made the tournament was 2019 and reached the main draw in 2015. It hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000, the same year it last reached the Big East Tournament Semifinals prior to this season.

"Ultimate respect for, obviously, Coach Pitino and how good they are in year one," he continued.

Dan Hurley became the third Big East head coach over the last three weeks to say that St. John's should be in the NCAA Tournament, joining Creighton's Greg McDermott and Georgetown's Ed Cooley.

The Red Storm's 90 points were the most the UConn has surrendered in a game this season. Its 91 points against Seton Hall were the second most the Pirates have given up this year, only allowing more in a triple overtime game against Creighton.

"[Daniss] Jenkins is a heck of a player. [Jordan] Dingle is a heck of a player," Hurley explained after the Red Storm backcourt duo went for a combined 46 points on 17-of-34 shooting.

"There's a reason why in the preseason some people had these guys ranked in the Top-25...That's a high quality group out there, and obviously [Rick Pitino] shifted to more of an offensive attack with the group. They're hard to guard."

Pitino called St. John's new offensive structure "race horse basketball" after defeating Seton Hall in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

As for now, the Johnnies are confident in its resume but still have to sit around and wait to see if its name will be called on Sunday evening during the selection show.