HARTFORD, Conn. — It was the sort of victory that can provide a staff final perception, as a result of it may be the definitive proof, that it might probably win a nationwide championship.
It was additionally the sort of loss that may kill a staff’s hopes and spirit for the rest of the season.
What sixth-ranked Connecticut did to No. 15 St. John’s at PeoplesBank Enviornment on Wednesday night time was greater than only a record-setting 32-point evisceration. It was an emphatic socking, the likes of which the Pink Storm may not shake off the consequences from for weeks, if not till subsequent season. The Huskies’ 72-40 vaporizing was arguably essentially the most spectacular recreation performed by any staff virtually 4 months into this good 2025-26 school basketball marketing campaign.
“What we did as we speak as a rebounding staff, as a defensive staff, as a staff that seemed like we did offensively at occasions within the championship years,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley advised CBS Sports activities exterior the locker room. “Twenty assists, 4 turnovers, actually, as a result of we took a we took a turnover late within the recreation. Out-rebounded a staff that kicks ass on the glass.”
Sarcastically, it was all of per week in the past when UConn fell 91-84 at house to mediocre Creighton to take its second loss in 4 video games, bookending that with the 81-72 defeat in opposition to St. John’s at Madison Sq. Backyard on Feb. 6, when the Johnnies snapped the Huskies’ 18-game successful streak.
“The protection has been a joke,” Hurley mentioned after that loss to Creighton. “Our protection has been so dangerous. We have been taking part in with hearth.”
On Wednesday, Hurley’s Huskies tamed the flame and used it to burn out the desire of St. John’s — snapping its 13-game successful streak — and maybe scorching its possibilities of doing one thing of significance over the subsequent month. The Huskies suffocated the Pink Storm by doing the close to unimaginable, not permitting a made discipline aim from the 17:28 mark of the second half till the tip of the sport.
“This can be a rivalry,” Hurley advised me, and it was apparent how a lot satisfaction he felt to win so convincingly with all the anticipation this recreation introduced. “I’ve bought quite a lot of respect for what they do and the quantity of success they’ve had, significantly in Large East play. … It was a must-win recreation as we speak.”
UConn heating up for March as typical
UConn performed like this system’s existence trusted a victory. Credit score to assistant Kimani Younger, who was assigned the scout, and whose time to get a head-coaching job on the high-major stage is overdue.
The Huskies set a program report for his or her largest win over St. John’s, surpassing the 29-point mark from 1998. In addition they received a house recreation over a ranked staff by 30-plus factors for the primary time at school historical past. The sport felt near-over at halftime when it was 41-26. Then it felt violent within the ultimate 10 minutes. It felt private.
The UConn staff seemed — not so much like — however just about precisely just like the 2023 and 2024 title-winning squads. There’s one eye-opening stat after one other hooked up to this one.
The 32-point loss was the worst by St. John’s as a ranked staff since a 35-point loss to St. Bonaventure in 1960.
The Pink Storm shot 19.6% on 11-of-56 taking pictures, the worst taking pictures efficiency by any staff in Division I this season. It occurred as a result of St. John’s made its first two discipline objectives of the second half after which missed 24 in a row, additionally the worst streak by any staff in school basketball.
SJU’s greatest participant, Zuby Ejiofor, was held to 1 level within the first half whereas his counterpart, senior massive man Tarris Reed Jr., completed with 20 factors, 11 rebounds, six blocks and two steals in 31 minutes in what was the very best recreation of his profession.
“I’ve by no means been by that have,” Ejiofor mentioned, later including, “tonight was not what I used to be anticipating in any respect.”
Reed grew to become the third Husky to ever log at the least 20 factors, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in opposition to a ranked staff, becoming a member of Donovan Clingan (twice) and Emeka Okafor (3 times).
Loss would possibly linger for St. John’s
Including to the embarrassment for Pink Storm coach Rick Pitino, he coached a staff to only 40 factors, marking the bottom of a profession that’s 1,224 video games deep. The earlier low got here when he was at Boston College in 1981 and his Terriers managed simply 43 on the street in opposition to UCLA.
“Give [UConn] all of the credit score,” Pitino mentioned. “They performed an important recreation. That is most likely solely occurred to me two occasions in my profession. … So, it is all on me. I am very upset in our efficiency offensively, particularly sharing the ball, shifting the ball. So, it is all on me, however we’ll prepare for Villanova.”
Rick Pitino takes blame for St. John’s dreadful efficiency in historic loss to UConn: ‘It is all on me’
Cameron Salerno
Though Pitino credited UConn and did personal the loss, he didn’t deal with himself nicely within the aftermath, which speaks to how a lot this consequence clearly and understandably burns him. Nonetheless, Pitino simply might have walked to the press convention room and brought questions for 4 or 5 minutes however opted to not — one thing that the Large East workplace is not going to recognize — and as an alternative gave one assertion and took one query from a reporter, totaling lower than 1 minute and 15 seconds after one of many two most vital Large East video games of the season.
“We’re nonetheless taking part in for a championship,” Pitino mentioned. “It would not matter whether or not you lose by one or 40, the league championship’s nonetheless at stake. Clearly, we bought to make our corrections and transfer on.”
The loss appears all the more serious coming mere hours after this tweet from Pitino earlier on Wednesday.
The Pink Storm’s résumé appears pretty weak in gentle of this loss by the best way. Its solely two high quality wins are house in opposition to UConn (extraordinarily good) and on the street in opposition to Villanova (fairly good). At 22-6, the Johnnies are nicely on their solution to incomes a single-digit NCAA seed, but it surely felt like there was a fracture right here in Hartford. SJU is now 1-4 in opposition to ranked groups this season.
Meantime, UConn 29-12 in opposition to AP-ranked groups the final 4 seasons, essentially the most wins of any staff within the sport.
The Huskies look dynasty-good once more. The Pink Storm have to do extra to show final yr wasn’t a one-off pop again into relevancy.
This recreation was speculated to be for the supremacy of the Large East.
Perhaps it was.
And possibly it will end in UConn ascending to the highest tier of nationwide title contender beside Duke, Michigan and Arizona, whereas St. John’s settles into one thing inferior. Their league data are tied, it is true, with each at two losses apiece. St. John’s nonetheless has three extra video games left, together with subsequent up internet hosting Villanova in an enormous recreation for seeding and the Large East race.
UConn will end atop the league if it handles enterprise vs. Seton Corridor and at Marquette, each likelihoods.
I requested Hurley if he used any particular or completely different motivation ways prematurely of Wednesday’s historic consequence.
“Nothing,” he mentioned. “Popping out of the Creighton recreation, we bought complacent going into that recreation. And since we performed so nicely at Creighton, I believe possibly I did not have the staff as prepared as I wanted to, and it put us on this must-win scenario the remainder of the best way to win the common season. The staff is taking part in proper now like these are elimination video games, and it is a good time of yr to play with that stage of desperation. The truth that we now have to win each recreation the remainder of the best way to get at the least a bit of the common season, the Large East has compelled us to need to play like playoff Recreation 7s proper now, and I believe that is going to bode nicely for us the remainder of the best way.”
Hurley has constructed up and fortified one of many hardest applications in school basketball. A championship-level outfit that’s required to hold over yr to yr. Groups that function at that commonplace aren’t simply able to, however really present proof to the kind of supremacy on show Wednesday night time.
Nearly everybody — Ejiofor included — needs to see the third act in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday, March 14. The Large East championship recreation. But when we do not get it, UConn’s win on Wednesday and the aftereffects could be the explanation. The Huskies are the fourth projected No. 1 seed, and it is laborious to see them spoiling that spot till the Large East title recreation on the absolute earliest.
These groups’ seasons collided in Hartford, and given how violent the affect was, it is laborious to see each getting into related instructions the remainder of the season.
