NEW YORK — To no one’s surprise, Round One between UConn and St. John’s men’s basketball lived up to all the expectations on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Red Storm did so by doing something the Huskies excelled at heading into the game, something that makes them a national championship contender once again: by getting defensive stops down the stretch.
It was an entertaining contest that showed St. John’s can go a full 40 minutes and grind out a win against a top-tier team like UConn. It also showed the Huskies are legit contenders once again, seeking a third national title in four years — even if their offense is still a work in progress.
‘As hard a game as we’ve had to play all year,’ UConn coach Dan Hurley said.
For St. John’s, it’s the highest-ranked win since 2021 against Villanova, and the highest-ranked win at The Garden for the Red Storm since they took down No. 3 Duke on Jan. 30, 2011. It’s also the first three-game winning streak against UConn since the 1999-2000 season, when St. John’s swept the regular season series and won the Big East championship game.
The Red Storm’s statement win, which puts them within a half-game of first place in the Big East standings, ended an 18-game win streak for the Huskies. It’s the first loss for UConn since it fell 71-67 to then-No. 4 Arizona on Nov. 19, and it’s just the second overall loss of the year for the Huskies.
‘We work too hard to play like that and just lose,’ UConn forward Alex Karaban said. ‘We invested too much time to lose, and it’s a hard feeling. It’s not an easy feeling to sit with right now.’
The Red Storm had to fight for their fourth Quad 1 win of the season after an even first half.
That fight began with a 16-6 run to begin the second half to claim a 10-point lead after Bryce Hopkins drilled a 3-pointer at the 13:03 mark. The Huskies allowed the Red Storm to stay in the game — and then grow a double-digit lead — with self-inflicted wounds (like four turnovers in more than six minutes) and by falling into foul trouble.
St. John’s turned 15 UConn turnovers, nine of which came from Huskies point guard Silas Demary Jr., into 20 points. The nine turnovers were a season high for Demary, who has otherwise been a home run find out of the transfer portal for the Huskies this season.
‘You’ve got to be in great shape to do what they do,’ Hurley said of the St. John’s defense and the disruption it created for the Huskies’ offense. ‘It disrupts your ability to get into what you want to do offensively.
‘I don’t think that we turned it over because of their pressure. We turned it over because we lost our (expletive) mind a little bit and they have great defense. That’s a top 20 defense, easy. They’re hard to beat.’
That fight then continued with the St. John’s response to UConn’s 16-9 run midway through the second half, where it saw its 11-point lead sliced to a single point after Demary hit a 3-pointer from the corner of the Huskies’ bench.
A second-chance, tipped-in jumper from Dillon Mitchell off a missed 3-pointer and a 3-pointer from Dylan Darling turned the energy in The Garden back the Johnnies’ way, and they closed on a 12-7 run. St. John’s physicality around the rim led to 16 second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds.
‘We made a lot of big plays tonight, a lot of big plays,’ Pitino said. ‘I’m proud of our guys for not panicking one bit at any point in the game.’
Zuby Ejiofer was also a difference maker for St. John’s across his 34 minutes of action, as he stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals.
‘You know you’re going to make me retire because I’m not living life without you,’ Pitino said of the preseason Big East Player of the Year.
It’s the fourth game this season in which Ejiofor finished with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. His 21 points were a key driver of the 50 points the Red Storm received from their frontcourt, (Mitchell had 15 points and Hopkins 14).
‘They’re grown-ass men,’ Hurley said of the St. John’s frontcourt. ‘… They are built for Big East games.’
St. John’s physicality also helped it earn its first top-25 win of the season. The Red Storm outscored the Huskies 42-22 inside the paint, and got to the line 31 times compared to UConn’s 12 free-throw attempts.
Those reasons, and growing guard play, could make Pitino’s squad a real tough out in the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm entered the night on the 5-seed line in projections, but after Friday’s win, they should see a bump to a 4-seed.
For UConn, the Huskies miss out on adding a second Quad 1 win in Big East play on the season. Hurley’s squad shouldn’t see a drop in their projections, as a combined 13-3 Quad 1 and Quad 2 record, which features a win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, is a fine resume to keep them at the 1-seed line.
But for now, St. John’s shifts its focus to Xavier at The Garden on Monday night with Round Two against the Huskies not that far in the distance on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut. It will likely be a fight for the No. 1 seed in next month’s Big East tournament back at The Garden.
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