St. John’s Rallies past Uconn, expands win streak to 10

Storrs, Conn.-RJ Luis Jr. scored six of its 21 points in the last 2:16 to help No. 12 St. John’s by expanding his winning row to 10 matches with a 68-62 comeback victory over No. 19 Uconn on Friday night.

St. John’s 10-match conference win is its longest since a 14-match strip in the 1984-85 season, according to ESPN Research. That season was also the last time the red storm reached the last four.

Uconn led by as many as 14 points and with the loss tied the second largest windy lead since Dan Hurley took over as head coach in 2018-19, according to ESPN Research.

It also marked the fifth time this year, St. John’s has returned from a double -digit deficit to win, tied to the most in the nation with five other teams.

St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said the team did not use the game to prove himself.

“We are the 11th ranked team in the country. I don’t think we have to show anyone,” Pitino said. “We are high ranked. We are # 1 in Big East. We play great basketball. We are out to win a game, not to show people how good we are. We are the 11th or 12th -rang Team in the country.

Kadary Richmond scored all 13 of his points in the second half, and Simeon Wilcher added 12 to St. John’s (21-3, 12-1 Big East).

Liam McNeeley had 18 points for Uconn (16-7, 8-4). Solo Ball had 13 points, while Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 points and 15 rebounds.

McNeeley, who missed the previous eight games with an ankle injury, had four points in a 6-0 race by Uconn to set up Huskies with six with 11:16 back in the second half. Huskies could not build on it, as St. John’s regained the lead on back-to-back jumpers by Luis and Richmond.

Ben Gordon, who played for Huskies from 2001 to 2004 and was a member of a national championship team during his junior season, was introduced to Huskies of Honor at the break.

Takeaways

St. John’s: The Red Storm won despite missing 11 shots in a row during a stretch in the second half.

UCONN: Ball and Jaylin Stewart start for impressive shooting start, but couldn’t score in the second half after combining for 22 points in the first half.

Keying moment

With Uconn leader with four, Richmond had a few baskets during a 6-0 race to take the lead. The red storm would score 12 points in a row.

Key State

There were 20 points scored by revenue and 18 were scored by St. John’s.

Up next

St. John’s: Plays at Villanova on Wednesday.

UCONN: In Creighton Tuesday.

Information from Associated Press was used in this report.