Storms, Connecticut – Foamed on a $2 Mirror Light Night. Ben Gordon retires from jersey. An early deficit of 14 points against the two-time defending national champion.
St. John's did not flash.
“We had been down before, but we found a way to fight back,” Cuddary Richmond said.
Johnny did it again.
Rick Pitino went to the full court press and signed up for 12th place Johnny, Richmond and RJ Lewis.
As a result, Red Storm won his second victory in the top 20 team in three days, winning the Husky 68-62, 68-62, earning at least 14 points in the fourth meeting of the season.
Lewis jumper on the left ice for 10.1 seconds after Connecticut trimmed an eight-point deficit to the two. The building instantly became as quiet as a library. The fans were fooled. A few “Let's Go Johnny” chants broke out.
“We're having a Helba year,” coach Rick Pitino said after beating Dan Hurley for the first time in five meetings. “We need to keep it.”
St. John's (21-3, 12-1) has reached another level of magical season and has a top 10 ranking on Monday. Johnny has won 10 consecutive games and 16 out of 17, making him 21-3 for the first time since the 1984-85 campaign.
It wasn't easy.
Connecticut (16-7, 8-4) took a 14-point first half lead. Five were awake at 9:15. St. John's never let go of the ropes, forced 22 turnovers and held the Husky at 32 points at the final 31:38.
After starting five-nine from the 3-point range, they missed 17 of the last 20 attempts from the distance.
“We see the bowl as food. We're just trying to take it,” Lewis said. “We feel like a lot of Dawgs. We play hard and feel like we wanted it more than they do.”
Richmond scored a 14-1 run with eight points, giving Johnny an eight-point lead. Only 3:11 remained.
UConn sliced the lead into two with 39.8 seconds left. The Husky chose not to be a foul. In the missed play called by assistant coach Bob Walsh, Lewis sunk a right bassline jumper.
“[RJ] I've never met a shot he didn't like and there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to make a shot,” Pitino said. “I was sure he would make a shot.”
He added: “No one in the Big East scores better than RJ.”
Lewis led the way with 21 points and 7 rebounds, while Richmond added 12 points, 6 rebounds and six assists, with 11 each at 11.
UConn was led by Liam McNeeley, who scored 18 points. The solo ball was 13 points, but there was no gap in the second half.
Pitino was in a cheerful mood afterwards. When asked what he said in November when St. John's would win 21 of his first 24 games, he said, “I would have said it.” [to Baylor]? ” “
After this victory, everyone was smiling. This was billed as a week when Johnny could make a statement and make a statement in the face of two top 20 teams.
Their resumes had lost the trademark victory. Now they have two and are sitting in the driver's seat to win their first Big East regular season crown since 1991-92.
“We got everyone on board at St. John's. We put it all together and put the garden together with the bodies of our fans, our students,” Pitino said. “This is a complete team effort and we have a great team now. We got it now and we're not going to let it slip a bit.”
