No. 22 St. John’s Red Storm Pulls Away To Upset No. 3 UConn Huskies At Madison Square Garden

In a game with huge implications in the race for the Big East regular season title, the 22nd-ranked St. John’s Red Storm used a second-half surge to pull off the upset win over the 3rd-ranked UConn Huskies.

Zuby Ejiofor Drops Near Triple-Double to Lift St. John’s to Victory

Coming into the game, the Huskies had only lost one game all season, but St. John’s star senior, Zuby Ejiofor, would make sure to add another blemish to UConn’s record. Ejiofor finished with an impressive stat line of 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists as he stuffed the stat sheet for the Red Storm in the win.

Ejiofor’s performance was only the cherry on top for St. John’s, as their offense torched UConn all game. The Red Storm shot 50% from the field, while also bullying the Huskies in the paint, outscoring them 42-34 in that department.

While Ejiofor was setting the table for St. John’s offense, his teammate, Dillon Mitchell, was helping to seal the win for the team. Mitchell had 15 points on a highly efficient 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, while collecting 6 rebounds to round out a great performance overall. It would be a great bounce-back game for the senior, as Mitchell struggled mightily against DePaul on Tuesday, as he only scored 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting.

UConn’s Offense Stays Hot Despite the Loss

Although UConn was unable to put a stop to St. John’s offense all night, the Huskies’ offense played lights out in the loss. UConn shot 54% from the field as a team, as well as a scorching 47% from the three-point line. The biggest problem for the Huskies would come at the free-throw line, as they shot just 47% from the charity stripe. That poor free-throw shooting was compounded by the Huskies’ lack of aggression in drawing fouls on a middling St. John’s defense, as the Red Storm outshot UConn 31-12 at the line.

There were a couple of nice performances by star players in Silas Demary Jr. and Alex Karaban in the loss for UConn. Demary finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, while Karaban would rain in 3 triples to finish with 17 points in a valiant effort from both players. Unfortunately, the Huskies would not get the same level of production from their bench in the loss, as UConn’s second unit would score just 6 points in the game.

Big East Title Race Now Down to Just Two Teams

After struggling in the non-conference portion of their schedule this season, St. John’s seems to have found its footing in Big East play. Following their win over UConn, the Red Storm now stand at 11-1 in the conference, and just one game back of overtaking the Huskies for 1st-place.

St. John’s has been on fire over the last month, as they’ve rattled off nine straight wins, with their last loss coming against Providence back on Jan. 3. For the Huskies, this loss snaps their own lengthy win streak, as they rode into last night’s game on an 18-game heater.

It’ll be a quick turnaround for St. John’s after this big game, as they’ll only get a few days’ rest before getting back to business early next week. The Red Storm will be back home at the Garden for a Monday night matchup with Xavier. The Musketeers lost their only game this week against UConn.

As for the Huskies, they’ll get a few days of extra rest before heading back on the road for a Wednesday night tilt against Butler. The Bulldogs have one more game this week against Marquette before facing off against UConn.