NEW YORK – The UConn men's basketball team (18-8, 10-5 BIG EAST) descends on 'Storrs South' on Sunday for a marquee matinee from the World's Most Famous Arena. The Huskies will take on league-leading No. 10 St. John's (23-4, 14-2 BIG EAST) at Madison Square Garden for a noon tip on FOX with Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and Allison Williams on the call.

The Huskies have enjoyed great recent success in the Big Apple, winners of their last 10 in New York City and eight in-a-row at Madison Square Garden. Dan Hurley is 14-6 as the UConn head coach at the Mecca of Basketball, including a top-10 win over Gonzaga earlier this season. The Red Storm are 7-0 at their part-time home in midtown this season and are 16-0 overall in home games.

Connecticut and St. John's have squared off 72 times in a series dating back to 1951 and picking up in earnest as original BIG EAST members. The Red Storm lead the all-time series 38-34, but UConn has won four of five and is 6-3 against SJU under Hurley. The Johnnies took the first meeting on Feb. 7 in a narrow 68-62 decision at Gampel.

UConn is coming off a seven-point win on Tuesday against Villanova, rallying from down 14 in the second half with a game-closing 27-6 run in the 66-59 triumph. Liam McNeeley led Connecticut with 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Tarris Reed Jr. and Solo Ball each scored 13 while adding nine rebounds and six assists, respectively. McNeeley leads the Huskies with 15.4 points per game on the season and adds 6.6 rebound a night, trailing only Reed Jr.'s team-high 6.9 per game. Ball is UConn's second-leading scorer with 14.7 points per game and ranks among the national leaders with a 43.8 percent mark from 3-point range.

Alex Karaban captains the Huskies and was recently named to the late or midseason watch lists for both the Naismith and Wooden Awards. The Swiss army knife forward averages 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, ranking top-20 in the BIG EAST in every major statistical category. During Karaban's career the Huskies hold an overall record of 86-19 (.819). Hassan Diarra ranks second in the BIG EAST with 5.9 assists per league game while Samson Johnson is on track to break his own UConn single-season record for field goal percentage, connecting on an absurd 76.0 percent of attempts from the floor while averaging 7.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 19.4 minutes per game.

The Red Storm are 23-4 on the year and atop the BIG EAST standings with a 14-2 league record. RJ Luis Jr. leads the Johnnies with 17.6 points per game and grabs 7.2 rebounds, while Zuby Ejiofor adds 13.9 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds. Longtime Husky nemesis Kadary Richmond adds 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game - also contributing a team-high 54 steals as part of an SJU defensive unit that ranks top-five in the nation per every major metric.

Following Sunday afternoon's contest in New York the Huskies return to Hartford for their final XL Center game of the season when they host Georgetown on Wednesday, Feb. 26.