HARTFORD, Conn. — Tarris Reed Jr. delivered a standout performance with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks, as sixth-ranked UConn routed 15th-ranked St. John’s 72-40 on Wednesday night. The dominant victory was fueled by holding the Red Storm to just 20% shooting, bringing an end to their impressive 13-game winning streak.
Alex Karaban contributed 14 points and five rebounds for the Huskies, who reclaimed their top spot in the Big East standings. This win served as a successful redemption for their 81-72 defeat against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on February 6th.
St. John’s struggled significantly with their shooting, missing 12 consecutive shots in the initial half and then their last 24 field goal attempts of the match. This allowed the Huskies (26-3, 16-2) to achieve their most decisive win ever against the Red Storm.
UConn coach Dan Hurley reflected on the performance, remarking, “They’ve been playing so well, the streak that they were on. … So it was just our night. It just starts snowballing on you when you have a night like this. Obviously, we played really good defense on them, and I thought we demoralized them a little bit when the score gets where the score got. And I just think it was one of those nights where everything went great for us and everything went wrong for them. But we did a lot to make that happen.”
This marked the most significant loss for the Red Storm during their three seasons coached by Hall of Famer Rick Pitino. Furthermore, it was their lowest point total in a single game since March 2013, when they also scored 40 points against Notre Dame. For an AP-ranked St. John’s squad, this defeat was their largest since March 15, 1960, when they suffered a 35-point loss to St. Bonaventure.
In Pitino’s coaching career, this loss ranked as his second-largest when leading an AP-ranked team, surpassed only by a 33-point defeat with then-No. 5 Louisville in February 2009.
Pitino commented, “It’s probably only happened to me two times in my career. Once was in my first year at Kentucky when we went into Phog Allen [Fieldhouse] at Kansas, but I was playing with very much an inferior team with walk-ons, not with this type of team,” he stated, referencing a 55-point loss by an unranked Wildcats team in December 1989. He added, “It’s all on me. I’m very disappointed in our performance, offensively especially, sharing the ball, moving the ball. It’s all on me.”
Solo Ball contributed 11 points and four assists for UConn, while Silas Demary Jr. added seven points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Joson Sanon notched all 10 of his points in the first half for St. John’s (22-6, 15-2). The Red Storm concluded the game shooting a dismal 11-of-56 from the field, subsequently dropping a half-game behind UConn in the conference. Their 13-game winning streak was the franchise’s longest in 41 years.
Early in the second half, Zuby Ejiofor managed two swift baskets for the Red Storm. However, UConn then responded with a 16-point run. A driving layup from Karaban extended the Huskies’ lead to 23 with 13:42 remaining, and St. John’s failed to score a field goal for the final 17:27 of the game.
Pitino expressed his frustration, saying, “I don’t know what it is. All I know is we didn’t play good offense. We did things that we’ve never done. And again, it’s something that I’ve got to question about myself, and I will question it because the team did not do the things we’ve done in the last 13 games.”
During UConn’s 18-0 surge in the first half, Braylon Mullins contributed six points and Karaban added five. A driving layup by Ball further solidified the Huskies’ advantage, making the score 33-12.
Sanon then accounted for 10 of the Red Storm’s subsequent 12 points as they attempted to narrow the gap. Reed secured his own rebound and dished it to Ball for a 3-pointer, allowing the Huskies to head into halftime with a 41-26 lead.
The starting lineup for UConn significantly outscored St. John’s starters, 61-28. The Huskies also dominated inside, holding a 42-12 advantage in points in the paint.
This report includes contributions from The Associated Press and ESPN Research.