UConn basketball was unable to overcome mistakes as St. John’s pulled away down the stretch.
This was a highly anticipated showdown between the best two teams in the Big East. UConn basketball went at it with St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, with both teams playing really good basketball coming into the contest.
Something had to give as UConn was the winner of 18 straight and St. John’s was riding an 8-game streak of their own.
St. John’s punched UConn in the mouth and built up an 11-point second half lead, but to UConn’s credit, they were able to respond and cut the deficit to just two with under four minutes remaining.
St. John’s was able to make all the plays down the stretch, however, and walked away with their best win of the season.
The best current rivalry in the Big East added another chapter to its story with an 81-72 victory for St. John’s.
Final pic.twitter.com/1LKafuIiix
— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) February 7, 2026
Missed free throws continue to plague UConn basketball
UConn basketball has struggled all season from the free throw line, and it is a major reason why they have lost the two games they have so far.
At home against Arizona, they shot an abysmal 9-18 from the line in what was a narrow four-point loss.
The same problem plagued UConn basketball once again as they shot 5-12 in their loss to St. John’s.
A lot of these free throw misses in both games were back breakers as they missed front ends of 1-and-1’s, which just can’t happen on a consistent basis.
They also had several misses in both games in the closing minutes, which would have been huge to put more pressure on their opponent to try to close out the game.
For the season, UConn is just over 70% from the line, so it’s not like they have only struggled in the closing moments of games.
This is a real issue for the team and they need to be able to find a way to take advantage of when opponents foul them.
James Breeding and the rest of the refereeing crew did not have their best night either. There were several missed calls throughout the game as well as some head-scratching foul calls for both sides, as the inconsistencies of Big East officiating continue to impact how games are being played.
St. John’s was more physical and, to their credit, were able to get to the free throw line 31 times compared to just 12 for UConn.
UConn basketball is a high-fouling team in general, and St. John’s was the aggressor when on offense, so some discrepancies in free throw attempts would be expected, but a 19-shot differential will certainly raise eyebrows for some UConn fans.
Sloppy turnovers are another huge concern
UConn basketball has been careless at times throughout the season, and against St. John’s, it was a major reason why UConn lost.
St. John’s size and athleticism created issues for UConn as they were able to speed them up and force them into several miscues.
UConn finished with 15 turnovers, which resulted in 20 points for St. John’s. In particular, Silas Demary Jr. had a whopping 9 turnovers, which was almost unfathomable as he came into the game leading the Big East Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.
St. John’s caused the same problems last season, as they beat UConn in two out of their three matchups in large part because of their elite defense.
This now marks the third straight loss for UConn to St. John’s, and the Big East Regular Season Championship may very well come down to the looming matchup between these two teams on Feb. 25.
Next for UConn basketball: at Butler (Tues., Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. EST)
Next for St. John’s: vs. Xavier (Mon., Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. EST)