St. John's basketball: 5 biggest takeaways exiting loss against UConn
![Dec 23, 2023; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) drives the Dec 23, 2023; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. (12) drives the](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4238,h_2383,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/291/01hjmzg4yncemnn995td.jpg)
1. The Team has Grown Up
Arguably the biggest takeaway from St. John's loss is that the team has grown up tremendously since the beginning of the season. More specifically, it has grown up tremendously over the last two weeks since its disappointing loss against Boston College.
Rick Pitino said that if this game was played three weeks ago, St. John's would have lost by 25 points.
And he's right.
The Red Storm weren't ready to play a team like Michigan, despite its struggles since that game, or even the trio of teams if faced in the Charleston Classic because of how new the roster was and trying to teach 14 players a brand of basketball they have never really played.
The Hall of Famer always mentioned this year that his team's begin to play its best in January and February and it looks like this team is right on schedule with its showing against the Huskies.
The non-conference schedule, unlike in previous years, has prepared this team for Big East play and there should be no surprises going forward and the improvement will continue as the Johnnies try and make a push to finish in the upper half of the league standings.