The St. John’s basketball team gave UConn a taste of its own medicine.
For each of the last two seasons the Huskies have been dominant against Big East competition, bulling its way to wins and overwhelming opponents with its physicality.
That the exact recipe was used by the No. 10 Johnnies to clinch its first regular season sweep over UConn since 1999-2000 – a year in which the Red Storm topped the Huskies three times – winning 89-75.
Its lead, which was a many as 22 points early in the second half, began to evaporate as UConn rattled off a 21-8 run that brought some juice into a sold-out Madison Square Garden that saw St. John’s advantage at just nine points, 62-53, with 12:36 remaining.
St. John’s called a timeout, and Zuby Ejiofor took the lead in the huddle.
“We’ve battled injuries. We don’t wilt. We’ve been here before, we know what to do,” was his message to the team according to Rick Pitino.
It resulted in back-to-back baskets by Kadary Richmond which settled things down and pushed the lead back to double figures. St. John’s held UConn (18-9, 10-6 Big East) without a field goal for 6:18, seeing the lead ballon to 18 points in the span.
“That’s our captain,” Aaron Scott said of Ejiofor’s message. “The man in the middle, so we all listen to him and he’s correct. We’ve been here before, we didn’t wilt, we didn’t get down, we just kept going.”
St. John’s (24-4, 15-2 Big East) used a 16-2 run in the first half to create its first burst of separation from the Huskies, turning a one-point deficit into a 13-point advantage. After UConn would score the next four points, the Johnnies rattled off an 8-point possession with an RJ Luis 3-pointer, two free throws from Ejiofor following a flagrant foul on Samson Johnson, and a 3-pointer by Scott on the ensuing inbounds play.
St. John’s shot 8-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half before only attempting three triples in the second half and missing each, but it didn’t matter.
Each member of the Red Storm’s starting five recoded at least 12 points, one block, and one steal which was the first time that has happened in a Division I men’s basketball game in 15 years.
Richmond, who Pitino mentioned is dealing with a double groin pull, finished with 18 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks while Ejiofor went for 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals.
Luis, a question mark to play with a groin injury of his own, started the game while logging 37 minutes with 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting.
“We want this Big East crown badly,” Pitino said.
St. John’s maintains its two-game lead atop the league’s standings and could clinch a share of the Big East regular season title with either a victory or one loss by Creighton (18-8, 11-4 Big East).
The Red Storm travel to Butler (13-14, 6-10 Big East) on Wednesday night (9:00 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network).