Dan Hurley gives pep talk to St. John’s guard Andre Curbelo

By ADAM ZAGORIA

NEW YORK — After his team knocked off St. John’s Saturday at Madison Square Garden, UConn coach Dan Hurley embraced Red Storm point guard Andre Curbelo in the handshake and give him some words of advice.

Curbelo, who starred at nearby Long Island Lutheran and transferred to St. John’s from Illinois before this season, recently came off a three-game suspension after reportedly going through a conflict with St. John’s coach Mike Anderson.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect [for Curbelo],” Hurley said in response to a question from this reporter after No. 18 UConn’s 95-86 win.

“He’s got a real genius to him as a player. ‘Work with discipline, let coach Anderson help you get better.’ He has the potential to be one of the best point guard/lead guards. He sees the game in a rare fashion. I have a lot of respect for my opponent. I played so when I see a baller, I like to tell him so.”

Andre Curbelo with a nice finish at the rim

And let's get a little commotion for that pass from Joel ‍ pic.twitter.com/17u2wPcxQV

— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) February 25, 2023

A 6-foot-1 junior from Puerto Rico, Curbelo went for 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 23 minutes off the bench.

His former LuHi assistant coach Jay David sat courtside to support Curbelo and several other players, including Samson Johnson (UConn), Mohammed Keita (St. John’s) and Rafael Pinzon (St. John’s). Pinzon is also suspended for a not meeting team standards.

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