The St. John’s basketball team was blasted by UConn in Paige Bueckers’ return.
Sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that is what the St. John’s basketball team faced on Friday night in Connecticut.
No. 7 UConn (22-5, 16-1 Big East) announced on Thursday that sophomore sensation Paige Bueckers would return against the Johnnies (11-18, 7-12 Big East) for the first time since December 5 with a left knee injury that required surgery.
The reigning National Player of the Year came off the bench for the Huskies but did not take long in making her presence known with a buzzer-beater to end the first quarter for her first points of the game.
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Bueckers not only provided a buzz for the crowd in the XL Center but gave her team, who has been dealing with brutal injuries all season long, a much needed lift as the Huskies get back to full strength and eye a run to the National Championship this March.
Paige Bueckers logged 13 minutes and was 4-of-5 from the floor for eight points with two rebounds and an assist.
The numbers were quite staggering in the Huskies’ 93-38 victory.
UConn made 43 field goals, St. John’s only attempted 53.
The Red Storm did not have a player reach double figures, UConn had five players post at least 13 points.
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The Red Storm shot 14-of-53 from the floor (26.4-percent) and 5-of-24 from 3-point territory (20.8-percent) with 19 total turnovers in the game.
Azzi Fudd, UConn’s star freshman, led the way with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
St. John’s hung tough with UConn in the first matchup between the teams, 75-57, but the Huskies did not have the services of Bueckers, Fudd, and Christyn Williams in that matchup.
The Red Storm did not score more than 11 points in a quarter in the loss.
Kadaja Bailey and Camree Clegg were tied for the team-high with nine points.
The loss marked the second straight loss of at least 48 points for the Johnnies after the team fell 107-59 to Creighton last Friday at home.