UConn Men's Basketball

Rapid Recap: Huskies fall to St. John's, 68 - 62

By Aman Kidwai

February 8, 2025

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Click HERE to watch postgame press conference

STORRS – The UConn Huskies hosted St. John’s on Friday night in Gampel Pavilion in one of the marquee matchups thus far in the Big East slate, pitting two ranked teams vying for the league's regular-season crown. Despite leading by 14 early, the Huskies relinquished the lead by halftime and faltered down the stretch in a 68-62 loss.

The Huskies started out hot as Solo Ball was raining threes and offensive rebounds were keeping UConn possessions alive. Liam McNeeley checked in for his first action since January 1st with UConn already up seven. Ball was at 11 points and Jaylin Stewart had six as UConn built up a 21-8 lead after five minutes. It was 26-12 at the halfway point of the first half, and it seemed like the Huskies were ready to cruise to another ranked win.

But Alex Karaban fouled on a three, leading to a four-point play, his second foul of the day, and Samson Johnson got his second foul shortly after. UConn began to turn the ball over a bit more and its scoring stagnated. They only added nine points to their total in the final 8:22 of the half and trailed at the break, 37-35 despite leading the entire way up until that point.

Evan Rodriguez

The second half was more of a tightly-contest battle but UConn continued to struggle offensively. After 10 turnovers in the first half, the Huskies finished with 22 on the night.

Alex Karaban started the game 0-4 and didn’t get his first points until a few minutes into the second half. McNeeley became the team’s second double-digit scorer but the St. John’s defense was stifling most of the way and Ball didn't get going in the second half. The Red Storm made a late run to pull ahead and the Huskies couldn’t find any firepower to get back in it.

Next up, the Huskies have the first of two consecutive road games on Tuesday night when they meet Creighton in Omaha. Tip-off will be at 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. After that, they’re at Seton Hall on Saturday the 15th before their next home game against Villanova, at the XL Center on Tuesday, February 18th.

Creighton (17-6, 10-2 Big East) is currently ranked 30th in KenPom (48 Offense, 27 Defense), which projects a 75-71 Bluejays win. Doug McDermott’s squad handed UConn a loss in the two teams’ first meeting, 68-63, in Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies were without McNeeley in that one; he’s expected to be back without a minutes restriction Tuesday night.