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The magic that often follows UConn Huskies in March never showed up Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Instead, it was St. John’s Red Storm that controlled the Big East championship game from the opening tip, rolling to a 72–52 victory over Connecticut.
The Red Storm jumped out early and never let the Huskies settle in. UConn shot just 34 percent from the field and 16 percent from three-point range, while committing 16 turnovers in a frustrating offensive night.
Afterward, Huskies coach Dan Hurley did not sugarcoat the performance.
“I don’t know how much of tonight was us getting punked and being soft, or they just played great and we missed shots,” Hurley said. “I don’t want to comment too much on that until I see the film on whether we were soft and just got punked or just played bad.”
St. John’s was aggressive on defense, lifting what felt like a home crowd at Madison Square Garden. Hurley said that the environment played a major role in the outcome.
“When you’re playing at home, teams pressure more, you’re more confident and you feed off the crowd,” Hurley said. “They got into us a lot more.”
Turnovers proved especially costly for the Huskies. UConn had only five turnovers in its previous meeting with St. John’s but struggled to take care of the ball in the rematch.
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“The difference in the game was we had five turnovers the first time,” Hurley said. “We had a bunch at halftime tonight and it ended up being 17.”
The Red Storm also received a dominant performance from forward Zuby Ejiofor, who nearly recorded a triple-double while impacting the game defensively with blocks and rebounds.
Hurley did not hesitate to praise him.
“That guy is one of the best players in college I’ve ever coached against,” Hurley said. “The production, the rebounding, the havoc he causes on defense. The rage and fire he plays with. He’s a total difference maker.”
Despite the disappointment, Hurley emphasized that the Huskies have quickly moved past tournament losses before.
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“We laid an egg in something we desperately wanted to win,” Hurley said. “But we’ll do what we did in 2023. We’ll watch the film, leave the Big East tournament here and move on.”
The Huskies finished the night 29-5, and while the Big East title slipped away, Hurley made it clear the larger goal remains ahead.
“We’ve had a great season,” he said. “We just haven’t had a championship season yet. Now we’ve got to try to atone for that by making a run in the NCAA tournament.”
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