No. 5 St. John’s Drops to Top-Seeded UConn, 95-90, in BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal

Friday, March 15

5:30 p.m.

St. John's University

20-13,11-9Big East

No. 1 UConn

30-3,18-2Big East

St. John's (NY)

UConn

No. 5 St. John’s Drops to Top-Seeded UConn, 95-90, in BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal

3/15/2024 9:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Daniss Jenkins led St. John’s with 27 points and five assists in setback to Huskies

NEW YORK – No. 5 seed St. John's (20-13) dropped its BIG EAST Tournament semifinal matchup to top-seeded UConn (30-3), 95-90, on Friday at Madison Square Garden, snapping the Red Storm's six-game win streak.

Red Storm point guard Daniss Jenkins matched his season high with 27 points, five assists and a pair of steals in the team's first loss in nearly four weeks. The 6-foot-4 guard from Dallas knocked down all six of his attempts at the free-throw line and hit three 3-pointers.

Jordan Dingle also delivered a hard-fought effort against the defending national champions, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with three 3-pointers of his own. St. John's senior guard dished out three assists without a turnover in nearly 29 minutes of work.

Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer led the Huskies with 25 points and 20 points, respectively. UConn's backcourt duo along with Alex Karaban combined for 10 of the Huskies' 11 threes. As a team, Connecticut shot 57.4 percent (31-54 FG) from the field and went 22-for-24 (91.7 FT) at the line.

The Red Storm got off to a quick start, outscoring the Huskies 13-6 less than four minutes into the contest. After Joel Soriano got St. John's on the board, Jenkins scored the next 11 points of the spurt, which included a pair of 3-pointers and a three-point play.

UConn answered with a 16-5 run, capped by seven points from Newton to go up 22-18 with just over 12 minutes to play. The Huskies expanded its lead to double digits over the next five minutes before Brady Dunlap drained a three and then a pair of free-throws by RJ Luis Jr. cut the deficit to 37-32 with just over five minutes to play in the half.

The Johnnies made it a three-point game with a layup by Dingle and dunk in transition by Zuby Ejiofor before entering the break trailing 52-47. UConn shot a sweltering 63.0 percent (17-27 FG) from the field in the opening frame to St. John's 42.1 percent (16-38) shooting mark from the field.

In the second half, Jenkins made it a two-point game, 56-54, after a pair of midrange jumpers less than three minutes into the period. However, UConn scored eight-straight points over the next two minutes and extended its lead to 14 on a Stephon Castle layup with 12:28 to play.

Dingle tried to will the Red Storm back into the game scoring eight-straight points with two 3-pointers and a layup cutting St. John's deficit to seven at the 8:02 mark. Spencer answered with the Huskies next five points to put his team back up double digits. The Johnnies could not get closer than a two-possession game the rest of the way.

St. John's will await its fate on Selection Sunday when the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed. The Red Storm aims to make its first appearance in the Big Dance since 2019.