UConn men’s basketball ended its 18-game winning streak with an 81-72 loss to No. 22 St. John’s on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Foul trouble and turnovers held the Huskies back despite a strong shooting effort as they dropped their second game of the season.
The first half was an instant classic, featuring four ties and six lead changes before ending tied at 39. No. 3 UConn (22-2, 12-1 Big East) shot 55% from the field and 9-of-19 (47%) from three, but turned the ball over 15 times and let the game slip away down the stretch.
Silas Demary Jr. finished with a team-high 18 points but also had nine turnovers, while Alex Karaban added 17 points. Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 but was not at his best, going 5-of-10 from the field and 2-of-6 from the line as he dealt with foul trouble.
Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s (18-5, 11-1 Big East) with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, all team-highs, while Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins combined for 29 points and grabbed six rebounds each as the Red Storm finished with a 32-26 edge on the glass.
Mitchell started the game with a hook shot to get St. John’s on the board first. Reed followed up his own rebound to make it 2-2 as both heavyweights settled into the game. Threes from Karaban and Mullins put UConn ahead, 8-6, before another Karaban three made it 14-10.
A quick St. John’s miss led to another Reed bucket on the other end to make it 16-10 and force Rick Pitino to call a time-out with 13:43 left.
St. John’s regained the lead with a 7-0 run that started with an Ejiofor jumper against Eric Reibe, who quickly caught his second foul at the 11:41 mark of the first half. The run went to 9-0 before one Reed free throw stopped the bleeding.
Another Mitchell jumper was followed by a Malachi Smith turnover that sent Ejiofor to the line, making it 23-17.
Demary Jr. drove for a lay-up to make the Huskies’ first basket in almost four minutes of game time. A Mullins three-pointer put the Huskies ahead 26-25 before a few scoreless minutes from both sides.
After two straight steals, a Joson Sanon three and Ian Jackson fast break lay-up put the home team back up, 32-29, prompting a Dan Hurley time-out with 2:52 left.
After two Demary free throws made it 32-31, Ejiofor got to the line on a Reed foul and missed his second shot, only for Hopkins to grab the rebound and draw a foul on Karaban with 2:29 remaining.
Reed and Karaban each got their second foul in that sequence. Reibe came in with two fouls for Reed, while Karaban sat the rest of the way.
Hopkins hit two freebies to make it 35-31. Reibe tipped in an offensive rebound to make it 35-33. The freshman center made a steal on the perimeter and took it all the way to tie the game at 37.
St. John’s responded with a bucket, as it was ready to all night, and Demary responded with a lay-up to reach our halftime score.
The second half started with a quick Karaban lay-in to kick off a frenetic return to play. The back-and-forth battle continued until a Husky turnover and blocking foul helped St. John’s go up 50-45 five minutes in. As turnovers and misses frustrated the Huskies, a Hopkins three made it 55-45, the largest lead of the day at that point.
The Huskies cut it to six after a Karaban jumper, but the lead got up to 11 after an Ejiofor three and a hook shot with two missed Reed free throws in between. Karaban hit a driving runner to cut it to nine and then found Reed open for a dunk to cut it to seven.
A Mullins steal off an inbound set up a Karaban three that cut the lead to two. After a St. John’s jumper from Dylan Darling, a Demary three-pointer cut the lead down to one. Darling drew a foul on the other end before Demary threw down a thunderous slam over Ejiofor to cut it down to one again.
The Huskies fought late, but missed free throws and allowed two second-chance buckets in the final minutes.
Hopkins pulled down a rebound and went to the line for one-and-one. He missed the second. But Ejiofor got the offensive rebound, and Mitchell put in a layup to make it 69-65.
Karaban helped the Huskies stay in the game with a nice rebound and putback to make it 69-67. But a Darling three and a Demary giveaway followed by an Ejiofor floater put St. John’s up 74-67 with 2:27 left.
A Mullins three gave UConn some life, at 74-70 with 2:07 left. But a Mitchell second-chance tip-in on the ensuing possession pushed the lead up to six with 1:36 left.
With the Huskies down five, Demary threw the ball to a defender on an inbound. St. John’s missed both of its free throws to give the visitors a prayer. But Demary missed the front end of the one-and-one; Hopkins grabbed the rebound and iced the game at the line.
Next up, the Huskies will be visiting Butler for their second game against the Bulldogs. UConn won the first meeting, 79-60, before its winter break. The Bulldogs are 13-10 after three straight losses. Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. on TNT + TruTV from Hinkle Fieldhouse.
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