Dan Hurley and Shaheen Holloway, who will be coaching on opposing sidelines Wednesday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., have taken a similar route to reach this point.

They both played for New Jersey high school powerhouse programs, went on to compete at Seton Hall (Hurley from 1991-96, Holloway from 1996-2000), began their coaching careers in the state and eventually rode their success in the college ranks to reach their respective Big East programs.

A native of Jersey City and former head coach at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, Hurley has great respect for Holloway, who’s in his first season as head coach at his alma mater and faces the 15th-ranked Huskies at 6:30 p.m.

“I’ve known him my whole life, as a player when he was battling my dad’s (St. Anthony High School) teams at St. (Patrick’s) and that whole rivalry,” said Hurley during Big East media day last fall. “He followed me in at Seton Hall. He was much more successful as a point guard there than I was.

“I just have a lot of respect for his career. He started out his career as an assistant coach at a public high school in Bloomfield (N.J.) Tech. He’s just worked his tail off and had to earn every opportunity in coaching to the point where he’s now that head coach at his alma mater in the Big East.”

Wednesday’s game will mark the first time two ex-Big East players from the same alma mater will coach against each other in league play.

Not that either coach really will care about that when the game begins.

Hurley is trying to stop a freefall. UConn has dropped four of its last five games.

The Huskies turned in a dreadful performance in Sunday’s 85-74 home loss to St. John’s. They allowed a season-high for points and St. John’s was the third opponent in five games to shoot at least 50 percent. They committed a season-worst 21 turnovers and lacked toughness.

After Sunday’s game, Hurley talked about looking for a “spark” to turn things around.

“We’ve got to get a lot of guys on track” he said. “We’ve just become a team that’s easy to beat. We can’t score enough to beat you right now and we’re not playing elite defense.”

Holloway, on the other hand, has the Pirates trending in a positive direction, winning four of five including three straight. He was hired last March after guiding St. Peter’s (Jersey City) on a magical NCAA tournament run, becoming the first No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight.

UConn (15-4, 4-4) and Seton Hall (11-8, 4-4) are tied for fifth in the Big East.

It could be an ugly, rock-fight type of game.

Both Hurley and Holloway preach a style based around elite defense, relentless effort and intensity. UConn and Seton Hall rank in the top two overall in the Big East in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.

“We mirror a lot about how we go about our job,” Hurley said. “We’re old school. We set high standards for how we’re going to practice and how our guys are going to carry themselves on and off the court. We’re not the easiest people to play for. But I think we make our players better and we build character and we win a lot of games.”

Wednesday’s game won’t be the first time Hurley and Holloway will coach against each other in college.

On Dec. 18, 2019, UConn earned a hard-fought 66-56 win when Holloway brought his St. Peter’s team to the XL Center.

g.keefe@theday.com

No. 15 UCONN at SETON HALL

Location: Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.

Tip: 6:30 p.m. (FS1)

Records: UConn 15-4, 4-4; Seton Hall 11-8, 4-4

Last game: UConn lost to St. John’s, 85-74, Sunday; Seton Hall won at DePaul, 71-67, Saturday

Probable starters, UConn, 6-5 sr. guard Tristen Newton (8.9 pts, 4 rebs), 6-6 jr. guard Andre Jackson (6.3 pts, 6.1 rebs), 6-5 so. guard Jordan Hawkins (15.4 pts, 3.6 rebs), 6-8 r-fr. forward Alex Karaban (9.9 pts, 4.2 rebs), 6-9 jr. forward Adama Sanogo (17.3 pts, 6.8 rebs)

Seton Hall, 6-2 sr. guard Al-Amir Dawes (11.9 pts, 2.8 rebs) 6-6 jr. guard Kadary Richmond (9.5 pts, 5.2 rebs), 6-7 grad forward KC Ndefo (7.4 pts, 5.2 rebs), 6-9 fr. forward Tae Davis (3.3 pts, 3.1 rebs), 6-10 sr. forward Tyrese Samuel (10.9 pts, 6.2 rebs)

Noteworthy: UConn trying to shake its worst slide since dropping six of seven during the 2019-20 season. … Series: UConn leads 47-21, taking two out of three last season – losing 90-87 (OT) on the road, 70-65 at home and 62-52 in the Big East tourney. … Huskies 2-3 on the road. Pirates 7-2 at home. … Pirates last in scoring overall in Big East at 69.6, second in scoring defense (63.8), just behind UConn’s 63.7. … Top reserves: 6-6 jr. wing Dre Davis (9.3 pts, 3.8 rebs), 6-0 sr. forward Tray Jackson (7.7 pts, 2.3 rebs). … Seton Hall’s Big East wins at DePaul, at Georgetown, Butler and St. John’s. Losses at Creighton, at Marquette, at Xavier, Providence. … Richmond had a career-high 27 pts in OT win vs. UConn in Newark on Jan. 8, 2022. … Hot: Dawes averaged 19.5 pts in two wins last week. Cold: In Big East action, the Huskies are shooting 41.4 percent. Take away Sanogo and Donovan Clingan, and that number sinks to 34.8 percent. … Jackson has 21 points and 15 fouls in the last four games. … Up next: UConn hosts Butler at noon Sunday in Hartford.

– Gavin Keefe