St. John’s has spent recent weeks carrying the informal title of “Hottest Team in College Basketball” up and down the Eastern Seaboard. That is not the case anymore.
The No. 15 Red Storm’s 13-game winning streak came to an abrupt end Wednesday against No. 6 UConn, who shelled St. John’s 72–40 in Hartford. The Red Storm mustered just 14 points in the second half after crossing 80 points in nine different games during their streak.
Two statistics underlined coach Rick Pitino’s squad’s complete offensive futility: St. John’s went 17:28 without a made field goal to end the game, and it missed its last 24 field goal attempts.
Per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, the Red Storm’s point total was their lowest since a 66–40 loss at No. 24 Notre Dame in March 2013. A single St. John’s player—guard Joson Sanon—cracked double figures.
The game was a far cry from the teams' much-hyped Feb. 6 meeting, a nationally televised Friday evening affair at Madison Square Garden won 81–72 by the Huskies.
The Red Storm—tied with UConn in the loss column in the Big East race—host third-place Villanova on Saturday. The Huskies have just two conference games left—one against Seton Hall and one against last-place Marquette.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as St. John's Went Historically Cold to Close Out Its Blowout Loss to UConn.
