NEW YORK – The UConn men's basketball team (18-9, 10-6 BIG EAST) lost in New York City for the first time in nearly two years, dropping an 89-75 decision to No. 10 St. John's on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies had won eight-straight at the World's Most Famous Arena before the setback.
After throwing the first punch and taking a brief early lead, the Huskies fell into a double-digit halftime hole thanks to a hot-shooting start for the Red Storm. UConn clawed to within nine midway through the second but was unable to rally all the way back. With the result, UConn is officially eliminated from the BIG EAST Regular Season title chase.
Alex Karaban led the Huskies with 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, scoring 15 in the second half to try and will UConn back. Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. both scored 15 while Liam McNeeley nearly posted a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. For St. John's, Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor tied for a game-high 18 points apiece.
How it Happened
The Huskies opened the aggressor, scoring the first six points of the game including dunks from Liam McNeeley and Johnson and taking an 11-8 lead to the game's first stoppage at 15:38. The Red Storm answered with a 9-0 run, taking advantage of a rash of UConn turnovers to take a 15-11 lead at 14:14 of the first.
At 10:14 of the first a Karaban bucket inside put the Huskies back on top by a score of 20-19. Later in the frame a trio of 3-pointers for St. John's were part of an 11-0 run to give the Red Storm their largest lead at 35-22, prompting a Connecticut timeout with 5:35 on the first half timer.
UConn got the score back to single-digits quickly, but a five-point swing thanks to an an off-ball foul upgraded to a flagrant which allowed SJU to go on an 8-0 run without a possession change and take its largest lead of the day at 43-26 a few minutes later. SJU went to the half up 50-32 thanks largely to is uncharacteristic 3-point shooting – it entered the game shooting 29.8 percent from deep and averaging 6.1 triples per game but went 8-of-16 in the opening 20.
St. John's scored the first four points of the second half, prompting a UConn timeout less than 90 seconds into the period facing its largest hole of the day at 54-32. The Huskies scored the next five leading to spark a St. John's timeout as Connecticut began to find its footing. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Ball and Karaban got the Huskies within 11, and captain Karaban connected from downtown again moments later to force a SJU timeout at 12:25 and UConn back within single-digits at 62-53.
Midway through the second the Red Storm managed to push the lead back to double-figures, taking advantage of a prolonged UConn field goal drought to go up 74-58 before a media stoppage with 7:42 to play. The Huskies were unable to pull back within single-digits the rest of the way.
Inside The Numbers
- UConn shot 23-of-59 (39.0 percent) from the field and 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from 3-point range, while the Red Storm were 30-of-64 (46.9) and 8-of-19 (42.1)
- The Huskies finished +3 on the glass, out-rebounding a unit that ranks top-10 nationally on the glass in both meetings this season
- Connecticut dished out 16 assists on 23 field goals, led by six from Hassan Diarra
- UConn was credited with eight blocks while the friendly home scorers recorded 11 for SJU
- Johnson, Karaban and Reed Jr. each had two rejections
- Entering the game UConn led the nation with 6.6 swats per game
- The Red Storm used a +6 turnover margin to turn 18 UConn miscues into a 24-10 edge in points off turnovers
News and Notes
- The Huskies are now 35-39 all-time against the Red Storm
- UConn falls to 14-7 under Dan Hurley at Madison Square Garden
- The Huskies had won their previous eight games at MSG
- Connecticut saw its streak of 12-straight wins in the state of New York end
- The Red Storm are the first BIG EAST team to sweep a regular season series with the Huskies since Xavier in 2022-23
- Reed Jr. scored in double-figures as a reserve for the 13th time this season and the 14th overall – it was also the 26th double-digit effort of his career
- Ball has hit three or more 3-pointers in a game 18 times this season
- It was the 11th time this season Karaban has at least three triples in a game and first since Jan. 11
- In five outings since returning from injury, McNeeley is averaging 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game
Up Next
The Huskies are back in Hartford for the final time this season when they host Georgetown at the XL Center on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
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