Sixth-ranked UConn flexes its defensive muscle in blowing out No. 15 St. John’s 72-40

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The previous time UConn played in front of its home fans, coach Dan Hurley was pulling starters in the opening minutes as a result of defensive breakdowns in a surprising loss to Creighton.

There were no such issues during Wednesday night’s clash of Big East heavyweights. The sixth-ranked Huskies forced No. 15 St. John’s to miss its final 24 shots and held the Red Storm to 20% shooting in a 72-40 rout.

“It was just our night,” Hurley said. “It just started snowballing on you when you have a night like this. Obviously, we played good defense on them. I thought we demoralized them a little bit. It was one of those nights when everything went great for us and everything went wrong for them. We did a lot to make that happen.”

After entering with a 13-game winning streak that marked the program’s longest in 41 years, the Red Storm had just two field goals in the second half. St. John’s didn’t make a basket for the final 17:27.

“That has probably only happened to me two times in my career,” Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino said. “Once in my first year at Kentucky, when we went into Phog Allen (Fieldhouse) at Kansas, when I was playing with a very much inferior team and some walk-ons, not with this type of team. So, it is all on me. I am very disappointed in our performance offensively, especially of sharing the ball, of moving the ball.”

Zuby Ejiofor, Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins combined for 50 points while shooting 65% from the field in the Red Storm’s 81-72 victory over UConn on Feb. 6 at Madison Square Garden. On Wednesday night, they had 14 points on 5-of-23 shooting.

“It is taking pride on the defensive end, really guarding our yard and having trust in each other,” UConn senior forward Alex Karaban said after leading the Huskies to their 27th consecutive win in Hartford.

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