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Big East: St. John’s Crushes Butler

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – St. John’s Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr scored 20 points as top-seeded St. John’s used big runs in both halves and never trailed in a 78-57 victory over ninth-seeded Butler in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament on Thursday afternoon.

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The sixth-ranked Red Storm (28-4) won their sixth straight, advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season and will face Marquette in the first semifinal Friday. The game was tied once and the Red Storm led for the final 37:18 to advance to the semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999 and 2000.

A day after getting emotional in a ceremony to accept his Player of the Year award, Luis made 8 of 18 shots and helped St. John’s improve to 10-0 at Madison Square Garden this season and 19-0 in games played in New York City.

Kadary Richmond added 15 to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds. Aaron Scott also contributed 15 points with five steals as the Red Storm shot 47.2 percent.

After never trailing in its opening-round win over Providence, Butler (14-19) never recovered from an early deficit and saw Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks II produce quiet showings by going a combined 4-for-20 from the floor.

Patrick McCaffery led the Bulldogs with 16 points, but Telfort was to 11 and Brooks was limited to five on 1-of-10 shooting from the floor.

Butler shot 34.5 percent, misfired on 21 of 30 3-point attempts and committed 15 turnovers.

Finley Bizjack added 10 for Butler before exiting with an ankle injury a little over five minutes into the second half.

Luis hit two 3s and scored eight points as St. John’s scored 15 straight points and opened an 18-3 lead on his corner 3 with 12:29 left. Butler made a small dent with Luis resting and cut the deficit to 31-21 on a basket by Boden Kapke with 4:23 left.

After McCaffery hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 33-24 with 2:32 left, the Red Storm held a 37-26 lead by halftime.

Bizjack’s basket moved Butler within 39-31 less than two minutes into the second half, but St. John’s ripped off 10 straight for a 49-31 lead on a layup by Luis with 15:29 left.

After Butler cut the deficit to 56-40, Luis hit a reverse layup and a jumper in the lane to push the lead to 64-47 with just under seven minutes left to essentially clinch it.

– Field Level Media

Big East: Memories of the ’80s

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – For the first time in nearly 40 years, St. John’s enters the Big East tournament as the top seed.

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After winning their first outright regular-season title since the 1984-85 season, the No. 6 Red Storm (27-4) open their quest to win their first conference tournament since 2000 when they face ninth-seeded Butler (14-18) Thursday afternoon in a quarterfinal matchup.

The Red Storm are the top seed in the tournament for the first time since 1986 – when they followed up their Final Four appearance by sharing the regular-season crown with Syracuse while Chris Mullin was a rookie with the Golden State Warriors.

“You got to stay focused on every little thing,” Red Storm coach Rick Pitino said Wednesday after winning the Big East Coach of the Year award. “The NCAA Tournament, you just got to cut out all the distractions. You got to shut the phones off. You really, really got to focus.”

Picked fifth in the preseason poll, St. John’s (27-4) clinched the regular-season title with a 71-61 victory against Seton Hall March 1 at Madison Square Garden where it is 9-0. The Red Storm are also 18-0 at home and have been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for eight straight weeks.

Among the reasons for the impressive regular season in coach Pitino’s second year is the ability to win close games. The Red Storm are 8-4 in games decided by six points or fewer, which includes their 86-84 overtime win Saturday at Marquette when Zuby Ejiofor hit his second buzzer-beater this season.

“I think we’re in the best shape of our lives,” Ejiofor said Wednesday. “Honestly the practice session that coach puts us through we’re a little bit more conditioned than most teams. We do whatever it takes to win. We’re a gritty team.”

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After backing up Joel Soriano last season when St. John’s reached the Big East tournament semifinals for the first time since 2000, Ejiofor earned the league’s Most Improved Player award earlier this week for averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds.

Ejiofor often provided a nice secondary scoring option behind RJ Luis, who averages 18.1 points and was the first St. John’s player since Walter Berry to be named Big East Player of the Year. Luis scored 28 in the regular-season finale and shot 26-for-48 in his final three games since shooting 4 of 18 against UConn on Feb. 23 in his return from a groin ailment.

St. John’s swept both regular-season meetings with Butler, surviving a 1-of-21 showing from behind the arc in a 71-62 home victory on Jan. 4 and getting 24 points from Luis in its 76-70 win on Feb. 26.

“Obviously, they’re the best team in the league, so this is a great opportunity for our guys,” Butler coach Thad Matta said.

Butler advanced past the opening round for the first time in three years by earning a 75-69 wire-to-wire victory Wednesday over Providence. Pierre Brooks II led the Bulldogs with 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting for his ninth game of at least 20 points.

The Bulldogs gave up fewer than 70 points for the second time this season and allowed 37.7 percent shooting. At the same time, they got outrebounded 53-29 as Providence grabbed 25 offensive boards.

Brooks scored 29 points in the two meetings with the Red Storm, who held him to 11-for-29 from the field.

“It’s a home game for St. John’s,” Brooks said. “It’s going to be pretty packed in here, so we have to come in as one and come in calm and collected and try to get a W.”

– Field Level Media

Big East: Xavier Looking for Upset

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NEW YORK – Many March Madness bracketologists are describing Xavier with the phrases “last four in” or “first four out.”

A well-timed seven-game winning streak gives Xavier a chance at being the fifth team from the Big East to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

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The fifth-seeded Musketeers’ next chance to enhance their resume occurs Thursday afternoon in a Big East tournament quarterfinal matchup against No. 25 Marquette.

Xavier (21-10) enters the tournament with the conference’s longest active winning streak and a NET ranking of 44. Despite a top 50 ranking, the Musketeers are 1-8 in Quad 1 games and are among four teams in the top 50 in the NET rankings with one win or fewer in Quad 1 games.

“I think we’re playing our best basketball of the season right now,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “I feel like we’re an NCAA Tournament team.”

Xavier is unbeaten since a 12-point loss at Villanova on Feb. 9, though six of its wins are against the combination of DePaul, Butler, Seton Hall and Providence — the bottom four in the Big East standings.

However, the Musketeers also earned a two-point win over Marquette on Jan. 18 when the Golden Eagles were ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25. Xavier also owns a four-point victory over UConn when the two-time defending national champions were ranked No. 19 in the poll on Jan. 25.

“I’ll also tell you, there’s some smart people on the committee. I know there’s a lot of worthy teams,” Miller said. “We have to be at our best in New York City. That’s when you want to play your best.”

Among those playing their best down the stretch is Zach Freemantle, who ended the regular season with 25 points in Saturday’s 76-68 win over Providence. Freemantle is averaging 24.0 points in his past three games.

Xavier is averaging 82.1 points during its winning streak, and contributions from Ryan Conwell are helping. Conwell scored 21 on Saturday and averaging 21.0 points in his past four outings.

These schools meet in the conference tournament for the first time since Marquette defeated Xavier to win the 2023 Big East title game.

Marquette (22-9) has reached the past three Big East title games, but enters Thursday after splitting its final 14 regular-season games. The Golden Eagles took five of those losses to the top three Big East seeds and ended the regular season with an 86-84 overtime loss to St. John’s on Saturday, three days after a 72-66 loss at UConn.

“Don’t have a choice,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said after his team tied a season worst by missing 10 free throws. “Response is a huge key in our program, the ability to focus on the next most important thing.”

Kam Jones scored 32 against St. John’s to follow up a 21-point showing at UConn. Jones finished third in the league in scoring at 15.3 points, and the senior guard was a unanimous pick for the All-Big East first team.

“Now’s the most important time, the postseason of your senior year,” Jones said.

– Field Level Media

Kalkbrenner Leads Creighton

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NEW YORK  – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner saw his name mentioned in conjunction with another Big East player who enjoyed a storied NBA career at Madison Square Garden.

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Kalkbrenner joined Patrick Ewing as the only second player to be named as a four-time winner of the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior standout shot-blocker will look to record another big performance on Thursday night as second-seeded Creighton (22-9) squares off against 10th-seeded DePaul (14-18) in a Big East tournament quarterfinal matchup.

Kalkbrenner won his latest award earlier this week after leading the conference with 80 blocked shots. Along with Khyri Thomas, the Bluejays have earned at least a share of the award in six of the past nine seasons.

“That’s crazy because I wouldn’t think of myself in the same conversation as (former Georgetown and New York Knicks star) Patrick Ewing, at least not yet,” Kalkbrenner said. “So it’s definitely a huge honor to get that award and tie Ewing in that way. Still a lot of work to do for us.”

Kalkbrenner also led the Big East by shooting 66.3 percent from the field and was second behind Villanova’s Eric Dixon in scoring at an average of 19.4 points a game.

Kalkbrenner scored 12 points against St. John’s on Feb. 16 when he tweaked his ankle in a collision under the rim but ended the regular-season by averaging 22.8 points in his final five games, including a 27-point showing in Saturday’s 87-74 regular-season win over Butler.

The Bluejays are attempting to reach the title game for the fifth time since joining the Big East and the third time with Kalkbrenner after doing so in 2021 and 2022.

“That would be awesome,” he said. “In my time we’ve never won the Big East regular season or tournament, and that’s something I would love to do.”

While Creighton relies on Kalkbrenner’s interior play, it also is potent from outside. Steven Ashworth shot 38 percent from 3-point range in the regular season, fourth in the Big East behind Dixon, UConn’s Solo Ball and Xavier’s Ryan Conwell.

Ashworth hit 7 of 15 shots from beyond the arc against Butler. He made 24 of 59 attempts from 3-point range over his final six games since missing all five attempts against UConn on Feb. 11.

DePaul has improved by 11 games under first-year coach Chris Holtmann, who saw his team advance in the Big East tournament with a 71-67 victory over seventh-seeded Georgetown on Wednesday.

The Blue Demons are on a three-game winning streak and have shot at least 50 percent in each game. The past three games are occurring after a 2-14 skid that included a 73-49 home loss to Creighton on Jan. 21 and a 75-65 setback on Feb. 26, when Kalkbrenner totaled 25 points and 13 rebounds.

“It’s going to be a tough matchup with Kalkbrenner,” Holtmann said. “Bottom line, it’s not just Kalkbrenner. They have a terrific team. For us, we’re grateful for an opportunity to come out and compete, and we can’t wait to get out there and play again and wear the DePaul uniform. We’re super excited about it.”

NJ Benson did not play in the previous meeting with Creighton and guided DePaul to its second opening-round victory in three seasons.

Benson, who averaged 8.5 points during the regular season, returned after missing a month with a hand injury and scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, including 11 straight for DePaul in the second half to turn a tie game into a seven-point lead.

– Field Level Media

“Anybody But UConn”

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NEW YORK – While UConn experienced some uneven moments during the regular season, the two-time defending national champion seemed to figure things out in the final two weeks of the regular season and could be starting to peak again.

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The Huskies start defense of their Big East tournament title with a quarterfinal matchup against sixth-seeded Villanova on Thursday night. Third-seeded UConn is riding a four-game winning streak, and star Alex Karaban seemingly has emerged from a lengthy shooting slump.

UConn (22-9) is entering the tournament on a winning streak for the third straight season. The Huskies won their final five regular-season games two years ago and their final four games a year ago en route to their first conference tournament title since Kemba Walker led a magical run of five wins in five days in 2011.

Villanova has won five Big East tournaments since then.

UConn is unbeaten since a 14-point loss to St. John’s on Feb. 23, winning three games by double digits along with a six-point home win over Marquette. Before the season-ending streak, the Huskies split their previous 12 games, a stretch that included two losses to St John’s, a two-point loss at Villanova and a late collapse in an overtime loss at Seton Hall.

“It’s probably the best we’ve felt all year,” coach Danny Hurley said after an 81-50 rout of Seton Hall on Saturday. “And it’s March, and UConn’s got a great history in March. That’s part of our confidence.”

Karaban ended the season by hitting 12-of-26 3s in his final five games and shooting 22-of-45 in his final four games. Before the past two weeks, he was 6-for-47 from behind the arc in a nine-game span from Jan. 18-Feb. 18.

Karaban is among three players to make the Big East All-Conference teams. Alex Karaban and Solo Ball were picked for the second team while Liam McNeeley was picked for the third team as well as the all-freshman team.

Ball averaged 16.1 points in conference games and finished with 17 against Seton Hall in 81-50 rout on Saturday.

Villanova (19-13) entered the tournament with a NET rating of 53 and advanced by never trailing in its 67-55 victory over Seton Hall in the opening round Wednesday.

Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer at 23.6 points per game, scored all 19 of his points in the second half, including 11 in a decisive run after Villanova let an 18-point halftime lead drop to eight points.

The Wildcats split their two meetings with UConn, though they could have won both.

Dixon scored 18 of 23 points in the second half in a 68-66 home win on Jan. 8 against the then-No. 9 Huskies. The Wildcats earned the win after squandering a 12-point lead and surviving two missed free throws by Karaban with 3.1 seconds left.

When the Wildcats visited the Huskies in Hartford, Conn., on Feb. 18, they wound up with a 66-59 loss. Villanova held a 14-point lead with about 12 minutes to play but was outscored 27-6 the rest of the way.

“We know UConn is a disciplined team,” Villanova guard Jordan Longino said. “We’ve had two close matches with them during the season. So we know we got to come out and defend for 40 minutes and execute our game plan.”

–Field Level Media

BIG EAST: DePaul Faces Tough Georgetown Challenge

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NEW YORK – Georgetown showed major improvement in coach Ed Cooley’s second season as Micah Peavy earned a spot on the All-Big East first team and injured center Thomas Sorber made the third team and the conference’s all-rookie team.

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Still there were moments of inconsistency for the seventh-seeded Hoyas (17-14), who oppose 10th-seeded DePaul in the first round of the Big East tournament Wednesday night with the winner advancing to face second-seeded Creighton on Thursday.

The Hoyas are 2-4 since Sorber’s last game and ended the season with an 83-77 loss at DePaul on Sunday that infuriated Cooley. While Peavy scored 29 points, the Hoyas allowed 56.6 percent shooting.

“We know in order to win games, everyone has to step up,” Peavy said. “We haven’t had a full squad for most of the year, but we’ve still been in close games, and we’ve learned how to execute when it counts.”

DePaul (13-18) nearly beat Villanova in the opening round last season before taking a one-point loss to end a 3-29 season. The Blue Demons improved by 10 victories in coach Chris Holtmann’s debut season and are coming off consecutive wins over Providence and Georgetown.

DePaul scored at least 80 points and shot at least 50 percent in the wins over the Friars and Hoyas. It was the first time the Blue Demons shot at least 50 percent in consecutive conference games since Jan. 2-6, 2019, and the first time it scored at least 80 in consecutive conference games since Feb. 27-March 2, 2022.

“I think that you want to be playing well late,” Holtmann said. “One of our goals this year, I said, ‘I’d like for us to be able to say we’re playing well late.’ And that’s clearly demonstrated here. So I think we hit that goal, now we need to play well in New York.”

DePaul is led by CJ Gunn (12.8 points) and Isaiah Rivera (10.7), who combined for 38 points on 13-of-26 shooting on Saturday. Rivera scored a season-high 21 against the Hoyas for his fifth straight double-figure outing.

–Field Level Media

BIG EAST: Can Dixon Lead ‘Nova to Victory

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NEW YORK – Villanova’s Eric Dixon is the nation’s top scorer and the Big East’s top 3-point shooter.

Despite Dixon’s individual success, the sixth-seeded Wildcats are barely on the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into Wednesday night’s Big East tournament opener against 11th-seeded Seton Hall.

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If they can beat Seton Hall, a matchup with UConn awaits the Wildcats (18-13), who enter their third conference tournament under coach Kyle Neptune. Villanova enters Wednesday with an NET rating of 53, one behind 19-12 Indiana and three behind 17-14 Cincinnati.

Villanova has wins over St. John’s, Marquette and UConn along with two losses by a combined nine points against Creighton. The Wildcats were trending in the right direction with three straight wins before blowing a nine-point lead in the final 3:43 of a 75-73 loss at Georgetown in the March 4 regular-season finale.

Dixon scored 24 points against the Hoyas and Jordan Longino added 17 but the Wildcats allowed the winning layup with five seconds left.

“We’re looking ahead, looking at whoever our next matchup is,” Longino said. “Hopefully, we’re going to crumble this one up and throw it away after we watch film and regroup.”

Seton Hall (7-24) took a five-point home loss to Villanova two weeks ago and ended the regular season of the second 20-loss season in school history on a six-game losing streak. Of the Pirates’ 18 conference losses, 11 were by double digits and they were held to 60 points or fewer 16 times.

“Obviously, they got a mismatch with Dixon,” coach Shaheen Holloway said of the fifth-year Villanova senior who scored 57 points against the Pirates in two games. “He causes problems for everybody. There’s a reason why he’s the No. 1 scorer in Division I.”

The Pirates ended their trying regular season with an 81-50 loss at UConn on Saturday when they shot 35.3 percent. It was the 17th time they shot under 40 percent this season.

Seton Hall is led by Isaiah Coleman’s 15.3 points. No. 2 scorer Chaunce Jenkins missed the final 13 games after sustaining a knee injury Jan. 18 against St. John’s. Coleman scored 10 points Saturday and scored at least 20 in 10 games, including 22 in the first meeting with Villanova on Dec. 17.

Dixon averages 23.6 points per game.

–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Johnnies’ Luis Jr. Named Big East MVP

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NEW YORK – St. John’s forward RJ Luis, Jr. was named 2024-25 BIG EAST Player of the Year. St. John’s coach Rick Pitino was chosen BIG EAST Coach of the Year and Connecticut forward Liam McNeeley was tabbed as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.

The conference’s head coaches make the selections and are not permitted to vote for their own players. The awards were presented at Madison Square Garden prior to the start of the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament Presented by JEEP. It is the 43rd consecutive year the BIG EAST is playing its postseason tournament at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Luis, a junior wing from Miami, was a critical piece in helping St. John’s win the outright BIG EAST regular season title and earn the top seed in this week’s BIG EAST Tournament. He averaged a team-leading 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals. His scoring average ranked fourth in the BIG EAST and his rebounding mark was sixth.  He finished the regular season with a flourish, averaging 24.3 points over the last three games. He is the first BIG EAST Player of the Year from St. John’s since Walter Berry captured the award in 1985-86.

Pitino, the leader of St. John’s revival, is in his second season in Jamaica Estates. He became the first coach in college basketball history to lead five different schools to regular season conference crowns. This year’s St. John’s team is 27-4 overall, 18-2 in BIG EAST play and ranked sixth in this week’s Associated Press poll. Pitino is the active winningest coach in college basketball with 881 victories. This year’s St. John’s squad tied a school record with 27 regular season victories and compiled an 18-2 BIG EAST mark, which tied the league record for a regular season win total.

McNeeley is the second straight Husky to earn Freshman of the Year honors. Stephon Castle was last season’s winner. McNeeley, a forward from Richardson, Texas, was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week seven times despite missing eight games early in the league campaign due to injury. He finished second on the team in scoring with a 14.7 average and pulled down a team-leading 6.2 rebounds. McNeeley’s single-game high of 38 points in a win at Creighton on Feb. 11 was the highest point total by a UConn rookie in a BIG EAST game.

BIG EAST Player of the Year

RJ Luis, Jr., St. John’s

BIG EAST Coach of the Year

Rick Pitino, St. John’s

 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year

Liam McNeeley, Connecticut

UConn Earns Top 25 Win

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OMAHA – UConn earned a top 25 road win behind freshman forward Liam McNeeley’s career night, while Marquette outlasted DePaul at home.

In front of a boisterous full house, UConn earned the first win in program history in Omaha, Neb, outlasting No. 24 Creighton, 70-66. The Huskies (17-7, 9-4 BE) trailed by as many as 14 in the opening half. Led by McNeeley, UConn overcame a double-digit deficit and outscored the Bluejays 47-29 over the final 23:04. The freshman sensation posted 38 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 12-of-22 from the field and making five from beyond the arc. The 38-point outing was just three points shy of the BIG EAST freshman scoring record set by Marco Lokar of Seton Hall on Feb. 20, 1990. Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth both scored 13 points to lead the Bluejays (18-7, 11-3 BE).

At Fiserv Forum, No. 18 Marquette got back in the win column, defeating DePaul 68-58. TheGolden Eagles (19-6, 10-4 BE) were led by 19 points from senior guard Kam Jones, who etched his name into the No. 3 spot in the MU career scoring record book and moved past 2009-10 Associated Press All-America selection Lazar Hayward (1,859 points). DePaul (11-14, 2-12 BE) was led by CJ Gunn’s 14 points and two assists.

BIG EAST action continues Wednesday with a pair of matchups. Riding a 10-game winning streak, ninth-ranked St. John’s hits the road to face the nation’s leading scorer Eric Dixon and the Villanova Wildcats at 6 p.m. ET on FS1. The Red Storm (21-3, 12-1 BE) hold a two-game advantage in the loss column of the league standings, while the Wildcats (14-10, 7-6 BE) look to increase the gap for fifth place.

At 8 p.m. on Peacock, Providence hosts Xavier in the first matchup between the two foes this season. The Musketeers (14-10, 6-7 BE), led by Zach Freemantle in both scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg), are looking to rebound from Sunday’s road loss at Villanova. TheFriars (11-13, 5-8 BE) want to snap a three-game losing streak. Providence is led on the offensive end by Jayden Pierre (12.8 ppg) and Bensley Joseph (12.7 ppg).

St. John’s Defeats Mighty UConn

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STORRS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – St. John’s (21-3, 12-1 BIG EAST) earned a pivotal road win at Connecticut (16-7, 8-4 BIG EAST), with a 68-62 defensive victory in their Friday showdown on the campus of the two-time defending national champion.

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The Johnnies came back from an early 14-point deficit before a hostile sold-out crowd of 12,299 at Gampel Pavilion to earn their 10th straight BIG EAST victory. St. John’s has now won 16 of its last 17 games and earned back-to-back Top-20 victories in the same week for the first time since 2006.

The Red Storm unleashed a pressure defensive effort midway through the second half, forcing eight turnovers in just over five minutes that fueled a decisive 12-0 to reclaim the lead. In the final moments of the game, St. John’s wing, RJ Luis Jr., delivered the dagger with a baseline jumper off an out of bounds play with 11 seconds remaining to put St. John’s up by four points.

Luis finished with 21 points to pace the Johnnies and scored eight points in the final 2:16. The 20-point effort marked the junior’s seventh 20+ effort of the season. Luis also grabbed seven rebounds and shot 10-for-15 inside the 3-point arc.

Kadary Richmond added 12 points all in the second half and played an integral role with timely buckets down the stretch. The graduate student from Brooklyn finished with six rebounds and five assists.

Simeon Wilcher tallied his 10th double-figure scoring effort of the year with 11 points. Zuby Ejiofor was the fourth St. John’s player to finish in double-digits tallying 11 points while shooting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

The Red Storm dominated in turnover margin (+15) committing only seven, while forcing UConn into 22 turnovers. The Johnnies outscored the Huskies 18-2 in points off turnovers.

Liam McNeeley led the hometown Huskies in his return from injury with 18 points. Tarris Reed Jr. finished with a double-double recording 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Early in the first half, the Huskies used an 11-0 scoring run that was capped by a three-pointer from Jaylin Stewart to take a 21-8 advantage at the 14:22 mark. Connecticut extended its lead to as many as 14 after Solo Ball hit a 3-pointer as the Huskies started off 5-for-9 from long-range.

After the mandatory under-12 minute timeout, St. John’s guard Deivon Smith jumpstarted the comeback with a four-point play, flushing a triple through contact to turn the tides. Wilcher’s mid-range jumper counted for an 8-0 run as the Red Storm quickly drew the deficit to six, 26-20. Soon after, Smith dished to Ejiofor for the fastbreak slam before Luis finished in the paint to close another run (7-0) and St. John’s trailed by a single-point, 28-27.

With the game back in the balance and the Huskies ahead by four, Wilcher corralled a long offensive rebound and splashed a triple from the corner. It was the sophomore once again that gave St. John’s its first lead, 34-33, with a layup through the painted area at 2:29. Ejiofor came up with a big “And-one” in the final minute of the half to give the Johnnies a two-point advantage, 37-35, heading into the break.

Second Half Start

The Huskies tallied the first five points of the second half before Wilcher quieted the crowd with a make from beyond-the-arc to knot the score at 40 at the 18:20 mark. Both offenses sputtered as the team defenses dug-in and the game remained close.

Trailing by five with just under 10 minutes remaining, the Johnnies continued to wreak havoc defensively forcing six turnovers in a four-minute span that led directly to six points. After Luis tied the score at 52 apiece, another Huskies’ miscue gave the Red Storm possession. Richmond capitalized with a made jumper as the Johnnies captured their first lead since halftime, 54-52, with 5:30 remaining. St. John’s wouldn’t stop there as a Richmond made a steal at midcourt and turned it into a putback by Scott as the run ballooned to 12-0.

Down the stretch, after a free throws from Richmond that extended the advantage to eight, 60-52, UConn responded quickly chopping its deficit to four before Luis retaliated with a mid-range make.

McNeeley hit four free throws to bring the Huskies’ deficit down to just two, 64-62, with 33 seconds remaining. On an out-of-bounds play, Luis got free on the baseline and received a dish from Richmond. The Miami native rose up and knocked down a crucial shot with 11 seconds on the clock to seal the victory. The Huskies hurried down the floor and missed a lay-up on their final possession as the Red Storm earned its first victory inside Gampel Pavilion since Jan. 18, 2021.