College basketball is better when Connecticut and St. John’s are both good. Simple as that. Separated by just a few hours down the Merritt Parkway, there’s been a long stretch where at least one of the two teams hasn’t been in the NCAA tournament. The last time they played a game where both went on to the big dance was 2011 and before that 2002.
But this matchup is so much better when both teams are making noise. On a chilly Friday night in Storrs, CT, No. 19 UConn played host to No. 12 St. John’s, with both teams poised to make the tournament come March. In the first truly premier game in the series in recent memory, St. John’s grabbed a statement 68-62 victory.
Even though the teams are both elite, the actual basketball wasn’t the prettiest to watch. After respective runs for both sides early, points came at a premium. It was a second half played in the mud, really gritty. That didn’t play to the Huskies’ favor, a team that prefers more offensively-inclined games.
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One of the reasons the game was as rough as it was was St. John’s’ press. They forced 22 turnovers, which really took the air out of the Huskies’ sails. Their 3-point shooting took a huge hit after the Red Storm picked UConn up full court, which was by design.
“What the press does is that it wears out their legs so they can’t shoot the ball as well,” Johnnies coach Rick Pitino said. “The press takes the starch out of their shot.”
“I don’t think we’re a great dribbling team overall,” Hurley said of the Red Storm’s press. “We don’t have a backup point guard we’re comfortable with. So 34 minutes of a hobbled Hassan [Diarra] is what we’re running with right now.”
The turnovers and cold shooting after the first few minutes certainly contributed to their issues, but St. John’s wasn’t perfect either. They shot just 19% on threes, adding to their bottom 25 mark in the department nationally. UConn also dominated the boards at +10, but wasn’t able to do much after getting a 16-3 advantage there early.
“UConn-killer” Kadary Richmond didn’t have a first half to remember, but scored 12 in the second. His full body of work was less impressive in comparison to previous games against the Huskies, but he did what was necessary for the victory.
“There’s 2 halves,” Richmond noted. “I didn’t see it go in in the first half, but my teammates and coaches trusted me that I was going to get it going eventually. So I wasn’t too worried.”
It was an especially painful loss to sustain on the night inducting Husky legend Ben Gordon into the Huskies of Honor. Gordon appeared happy to be back on campus, especially as he’s working his way back from what’s been a tough few years.
Liam McNeeley played for the first time in over a month, quickly picking up from where he left off. He didn’t start or get off on the best foot, but made plays down the stretch. He hit a few important threes towards his 18 points, grabbed 11 boards and added length on defense. Those moments were critical for the Huskies and it’s hard to figure how they made it through January without him. But it’s tremendous for them that he’s back.
“What killed us in the first half was Liam knocking off the rust, him and Alex missing those shots,” Hurley said. “This was a tough game to return to for Liam. It’s going to take him a game or two to get rolling but 18 and 11 was impressive.”
Sophomore Solo Ball almost the opposite game from McNeeley, tearing it up in the first few minutes, but going ice cold after. He wasted no time draining a trio of deep balls, the catalyst for Connecticut’s early double-digit lead. But as he cooled down so did the team, at least in the first half. He scored all of his points in the first 12 minutes of the game, finishing with 13. Ball has still been excellent lately, but likely would have been better served picking the second half to go nuclear.
Another standout Husky was Tarris Reed Jr., doing an excellent job anchoring the interior. He was effective on the offensive glass, grabbing 7 on his way to 15 total boards. He also added 12 points, but his impact on the glass was the highlight. It was necessary too, especially given Samson Johnson’s foul trouble. It’s worth noting Reed’s defensive struggles with a +/- of -11, but he still played with high effort.
Preseason All-America selection Alex Karaban added another dud to his recent stretch, managing just 3 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. His shot was off again (0/5 from deep), which really hurt the Huskies. If he’s going to be a star he really needs to get himself going down the stretch and performances like this need to disappear.
“Alex is such a smart player and such a perfectionist,” Hurley noted. “I want to see him fire. There were threes he should have fired, opportunities he should have pressed. You need to be willing to go 3/14 in these games.”
UConn got off to a blistering start, torching the nets in the early goings of the game. Ball netted a pair of threes before the first media timeout, highlighting an impressive first six minutes. At that point the Huskies led by 13 and it looked like they could run away with things. But that’s not how this team rolls.
Over a four minute span, the Huskies let another lead slip away, ahead by just a point after a 15-2 Red Storm run. A Simeon Wilcher flagrant foul took some of the wind out of their sails, but it didn’t prevent Connecticut from relinquishing the lead for the first time. The Johnnies took that lead into the half, winning by two.
Neither side was able to garner much separation at the beginning of the second, largely because of the sloppiness. The teams combined for 14 points in the frame’s first seven minutes, not a pretty show.
At one point, St. John’s went over five minutes without a point, allowing the Huskies to get their first multi-position cushion of the half. That came courtesy of a pair of McNeeley threes, which were drained at very opportune times.
As great as those plays were, it wasn’t enough to keep the Red Storm from doing just that–storming back. They took a commanding 8 point lead after a 12-0 run, capped off by Richmond’s jumper.
The run took some of the air out of the Huskies, but they reduced the hole to just 4 with fewer than two minutes left. St. John’s missed the front end of a one-and-one and McNeeley cut it to 2 with 40 ticks left. Ball blocked a dagger attempt and left just 3 seconds left on the shot clock, but RJ Luis freed himself up for the actual dagger off the inbound pass.
“It was straight adrenaline,” Luis said of the shot.
The Johnnies escaped with a tremendous 6-point victory at a place that’s difficult to win as a visitor.
This isn’t the time to slam the panic button; Diarra is not 100% and McNeeley was reacclimating. They don’t have a brutal remaining eight remaining games, so if they can use them to get back their flow, they can be dangerous moving forward. But the final 34 minutes of this game were not encouraging.
Things do not get any easier in the very immediate future though, with the Huskies shipping up to Omaha, NE to play Creighton. That game will come Tuesday, at a venue where Connecticut has never won.
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