No. 5 St. John’s to Face No. 1 UConn in BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals

Friday, March 15

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

5:30 p.m.

St. John's University

No. 1 UConn

No. 5 St. John’s to Face No. 1 UConn in BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals

3/15/2024 1:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm and Huskies Square Off at 5:30 p.m. on FOX

NEW YORK – The fifth-seeded St. John's men's basketball team (20-12) will make its first BIG EAST Tournament semifinal appearance since 2000 on Friday when the Johnnies square off with top-seeded Connecticut (29-3) at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside "The World's Most Famous Arena." FOX will carry the national telecast.

FOX Sports announcers Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson along with sideline reporter Kristina Pink will be on the call from Midtown. Westwood One Sports will carry the national radio broadcast with Scott Graham and Austin Croshere. An audio broadcast of the game on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network with John Minko and Brandon Tierney will also be available on a variety of platforms including the Varsity Network App, TuneIn Radio, RedStormSports.com and the St. John's Red Storm mobile app. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 138 or 201 and the SiriusXM App.

St. John's earned its sixth-straight victory with a 19-point win over Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals. Six Johnnies scored double figures, including a team-high 18 points from RJ Luis Jr. who shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. The Miami native also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out two assists in 29 minutes off the bench. Joel Soriano recorded a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds, in the Red Storm's fourth consecutive win by double digits.

Red Storm Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino also extended his BIG EAST Tournament win streak to eight games with the victory over the Pirates. Pitino, who previously led Louisville to championships in 2012 and 2013 in the Cardinals' final two seasons in the conference, looks to match Jim Calhoun and Jay Wright for the most consecutive victories in tournament history with a win over the Huskies on Friday.

In its last six victories, St. John's has averaged 88.8 points per contest, shooting 53.0 percent from the field. Daniss Jenkins has led the team during the hot stretch with 15.8 points per game. Jordan Dingle (15.2 ppg), Luis (13.5 ppg), Chris Ledlum (13.5 ppg) and Joel Soriano (10.2 ppg) are also averaging double figures in the last six contests.

On Friday, the Red Storm and Huskies will square off for the seventh time in BIG EAST Tournament history. St. John's owns a 4-2 advantage over Connecticut in the conference's postseason tournament. The Johnnies and Huskies will also meet for the first time ever in the semifinals. Their last postseason meeting was March 9, 2010, when St. John's rallied to a 73-51 victory behind Sean Evans' 19-point, 10-rebound performance.

Original members of the BIG EAST, St. John's has dropped five of its last six meetings with the Huskies. The Johnnies last defeated UConn on Jan. 15, 2023, earning an 85-74 victory at XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Joel Soriano paced the Red Storm with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Connecticut has won five-straight games and is coming off an 87-60 victory over Xavier on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton led the Huskies with 13 points and seven rebounds apiece. As a team, UConn shot 58.3 percent from the field and assisted 29 of 35 made field goals. Cam Spencer led the team with eight assists while Newton and Stephon Castle handed out five each.

The winner of Friday's semifinal matchup will advance to the championship game on Saturday, taking on the winner of No. 3 Marquette and No. 7 Providence. Tip-off for the BIG EAST Tournament title game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. FOX will carry the national telecast.