No. 10 St. John’s blows out UConn 89-75 for regular-season sweep
NEW YORK (AP) — Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor scored 18 points apiece as No. 10 St. John’s routed UConn 89-75 on Sunday to complete its first regular-season sweep of the Huskies in 25 years.
Leading scorer RJ Luis Jr. added 14 points for the Red Storm (24-4, 15-2 Big East) after sitting out Wednesday’s win at DePaul with a groin injury. First-place St. John’s needs one more victory or a Creighton loss to clinch a share of its first regular-season conference championship since 1992.
Aaron Scott had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Deivon Smith finished with 12 points and eight assists. Ejiofor had nine rebounds and six assists while shooting 5 for 6 from the field and 8 of 9 at the free-throw line in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Alex Karaban led the Huskies (18-9, 10-6) with 17 points. UConn, the two-time defending NCAA champion, had won nine straight games against top-10 opponents and eight in a row at The Garden.
Takeaways
UConn: No sequence highlighted some of the Huskies’ struggles more than the final 30 seconds of the first half when they secured six offensive rebounds but still could not score. UConn trailed 50-32 at the break and fell behind by 22 early in the second period.
St. John’s: Improved to 17-0 at home and matched the 1984-85 school record for conference wins.
Key moment
St. John’s had an eight-point possession in the first half. Luis hit a 3-pointer with 4:23 left, and Samson Johnson was called for a flagrant foul under the basket following a replay review. Ejiofor converted two free throws before Scott drained his third 3 for a 43-26 cushion.
Key stats
The Huskies missed 15 layups and committed 18 turnovers, giving them 40 in two meetings with the Johnnies this season. … St. John’s made eight 3s in the first half and finished 8 for 19 from long range (42.1%) after entering as the Big East’s worst 3-point shooting team at 29.8%.
Up next
UConn hosts Georgetown on Wednesday in Hartford. St. John’s visits Butler on Wednesday.
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By LARRY FLEISHER
Associated Press
