The St. John’s men’s basketball team, ranked No. 15 in both major polls, was defeated by No. 6 UConn on Wednesday in Hartford with a final score of 72-40.
This loss ended St. John’s 13-game winning streak, which had lasted since January 3 and spanned over seven weeks.
Joson Sanon led the Red Storm with 10 points at PeoplesBank Arena. This was his eleventh double-digit scoring game of the season and his first since the team’s win over Butler on January 28 at Madison Square Garden. Bryce Hopkins contributed eight points and five rebounds, while Ruben Prey added seven points, making five out of six free throws.
For UConn, Tarris Reed Jr. recorded a game-high with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Alex Karaban scored 14 points and Solo Ball added another 11 for the Huskies.
St. John’s started strong with an opening basket from Hopkins but soon trailed after UConn responded with nine consecutive points to take a 9-2 lead. The Red Storm managed to close the gap to within one possession three times during the first half, including after an Oziyah Sellers dunk that made it 13-11 at the 13:36 mark. However, Connecticut then went on an extended run of eighteen unanswered points to increase its lead by as much as twenty.
Sanon helped reduce the deficit late in the first half by scoring ten of St. John’s next twelve points, bringing them within fourteen at 38-24 with under two minutes left before halftime. The Huskies led at halftime by fifteen points, up 41-26.
In the second half, Zuby Ejiofor hit a three-pointer early to cut UConn’s lead back down to fourteen, but UConn quickly answered with an eleven-to-two run that pushed their advantage to twenty-three at the thirteen-minute mark. The Huskies continued building their lead throughout the remainder of the game and eventually won by thirty-two points.
With this result, UConn split its regular season series against St. John’s.
St. John’s will play again Saturday when it hosts Villanova at Madison Square Garden.
St. John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball is part of the Big East Conference and has claimed six Big East Tournament championships along with two NIT titles according to its official website. The team plays home games in Queens, New York and is known for adopting “Red Storm” as its athletics nickname (source).
