UConn men’s basketball (18-9, 10-6 Big East) has a lot of memorable moments at Madison Square Garden and came into the World’s Most Famous Arena with an eight-game winning streak dating back to the Huskies’ road win over St. John’s last year.
However, the Johnnies (24-4, 15-2 Big East), ranked 10th in the AP Poll, have flipped the script. Not only have they swept Connecticut, but they also beat the Huskies at The Garden for the first time since Feb. 6, 2013. It is their first sweep over UConn since the 1999-2000 season.
Samson Johnson won the tip, and the Huskies scored first with Hassan Diarra picking Deivon Smith’s pocket, leading to a breakaway dunk by Liam McNeeley. Connecticut scored the game’s first six points.
RJ Luis Jr., who came into the game questionable due to a groin injury that left him out of the Johnnies’ win at DePaul, got the scoring going for St. John’s with a three-pointer from the right corner. He finished the game with 14 points.
As Rick Pitino-coached teams tend to do, St. John’s forced seven UConn turnovers in the first 9:15 of the game, which was alarming considering the Huskies turned the ball over 22 times in the rivalry’s first meeting of the season.
“We made up for outrebounding them by turning the ball over 18 times,” Hurley said, citing that they outrebounded St. John’s because the Red Storm exceeded expectations shooting-wise.
With 4:22 remaining in the first half, the Johnnies already had reached their team average of three-pointers made (6.1), with Smith and Luis accounting for four of their six made three-pointers.
Johnson’s second foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul, which led to a rare eight-point possession for St. John’s.
It felt like UConn could not put a beach ball in the ocean for most of the first half, finishing the half shooting 39% and missing six straight baskets to end the first 20 minutes, only cashing in one three-pointer. It was a key reason why the Huskies trailed by 18 points at halftime.
St. John’s scored 50 first-half points, the most all season. Not only did Smith have 10 points, but he led all players at the half with five assists.
“Once Deivon [Smith] got healthy again, I think our offense picked up,” Pitino said. “He got everybody great shots in that first half, and that’s why we had 50 points.”
The Red Storm came out of the locker room swinging, forcing two UConn turnovers and scoring four fast break points, causing Hurley to call timeout 92 seconds into the second half.
UConn gave St. John’s a taste of their own medicine, forcing four turnovers early in the second half.
“Our quality is way off from where it’s been,” Hurley said. “But there was an opportunity there.”
The three-pointers finally started to fall for Connecticut, cutting what was once a 22-point deficit to nine behind a crucial 11 points from Alex Karaban, who made three from downtown and forced Pitino to use a timeout.
“Obviously, I’ve been struggling for a while now,” Karaban said. “So, to get some threes in, it was nice. But the mistakes I made defensively and the mistakes toughness-wise that I made had a greater impact than those threes.”
That timeout was well-used as St. John’s continued their trend of stifling the Huskies’ offense. At the media timeout, that nine-point lead grew back to 16 for the Red Storm.
The Red Storm ran away with the game, maintaining a lead since the 10:15 mark of the first half.
St. John’s had a historic performance. All five starters recorded at least 12 points, a steal and a block. It is the first time in the last 15 years that any Division I team has accomplished that.
Zuby Ejiofor, the frontrunner for Big East Most Improved Player, led the Red Storm with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Hurley called Ejiofor a “beast” in the paint.
Karaban seemed to shake off his slump for a part of the game, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the second half. It was the first time Karaban made at least three three-pointers since the Huskies’ win at Georgetown in mid-January.
“I know [Karaban’s] struggling right now, but he’s going to figure it out,” Tarris Reed Jr. said. “He’s got championship DNA, so expect nothing but great things from him.”
Solo Ball and Liam McNeeley were quiet in the first half but scored 10 each in the second half to have 15 and 17 points respectively.
UConn will return to Connecticut in search of a sweep of their own, with Georgetown coming to the XL Center on Wednesday night.