UConn basketball dominated St. John’s 72-40 in a top-15 matchup.
There was a little bit more than just pride on the line Wednesday night with the Big East regular season title up for grabs. With a win, St. John’s would come away with their second consecutive regular season title, and if UConn basketball wanted a chance at that trophy they would have to start by winning this highly anticipated matchup.
Out of the gate, it was all UConn. The Huskies were dominant on both ends of the floor, including an 18-0 scoring run which saw the Red Storm go without a field goal for just over eight minutes of game time.
Eventually, St. John’s Joson Sanon ended the drought with a three-pointer, but the damage had already been done. Going into the half, UConn basketball held a 41-26 lead with huge advantages in points in the paint and fastbreak points that fueled their big run.
The wrecking ball that is UConn basketball kept swinging in the second half as they went on another massive scoring run, this time 16 to 0. The Huskies had an extremely efficient night from the floor, shooting 47% and consistently finding their way into the paint, where they led St. John’s 42 to 12 in points.
While the offense looked good, it was the defense that shone the brightest. The Huskies held their opponents to just 11 made field goals on 20% shooting. On the hustle stats, UConn added 9 blocks and 6 steals. Connecticut simply wanted this one more.
St. John’s finished the game missing their last 24 field goal attempts over a 17 minute span. This is surely a night that Rick Pitino and the Red Storm are going to try to forget about, as they have a quick turnaround before playing Villanova this weekend.
Since being embarrassed by Creighton at home, UConn basketball has seriously woken up. The road win against Villanova was a championship-level response, and dismantling a top-15 team like they did on Wednesday should act as a wake-up call to the rest of the country as we head toward March.
This is how the game ended… pic.twitter.com/JuVeQTpS40
— Step Back Cardiac Review (@CardiacCTReview) February 26, 2026
Huskies Get Revenge
After losing the first leg of this season series, UConn basketball came into this contest wanting to prove itself against the top of the conference standings. St. John’s forced plenty of turnovers (15!) in their last matchup, and the Huskies added to that by shooting 9-for-18 from the free throw line.
On Wednesday night, the Huskies committed just 4 turnovers and shot 7-for-9 from the free throw line. They also held St. John’s to 40 points, which is less than half what the Red Storm had a few weeks ago at the Garden.
The film studies have been paying off for UConn basketball. Everyone would rather be playing their best basketball toward the end of the season, and the Huskies are doing just that.
Monster night for Tarris
Tarris Reed Jr. had a statement performance with 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting, including 11 rebounds and 6 blocks. On any given night, that’s a phenomenal showing. Wednesday night, that is as close to perfect as it could be, considering his competition was Zuby Ejiofor and St. John’s.
Reed Jr. has faced some criticism recently for his free throw shooting and seeming to play some soft defense at times. UConn basketball is at its best when Tarris is playing confidently, and this game showed exactly what that looks like.
Next for UConn basketball: vs. Seton Hall (Sat., Feb. 28 at 12 p.m. EST)
Next for St. John’s: vs. Villanova (Sat., Feb 28 at 8 p.m. EST)
Great article Chandler and fantastic win for UCONN!
[…] Big East basketball power rankings, they came back with a vengeance against St. John’s in a blowout victory. Tarris Reed Jr. had a performance for the ages with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 […]