From the outset of the season, UConn has resembled the team that won consecutive national titles in 2023 and 2024.
In the past month, St. John’s has responded to a rough stretch by performing similarly to its 31-win team from last season but with a more potent offense.
As a result of the strong performances by both teams, someone will see a lengthy winning streak end when No. 3 UConn attempts to earn a 19th consecutive victory and No. 22 St. John’s puts its eight-game winning streak on the line Friday night in New York.
“For us, in our quest to win the regular season Big East championship, it’s just the next game,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said. “Obviously we’ve been consistently strong this year, both in the nonconference and in conference play, and St. John’s has picked up its play in Big East play.”
UConn (22-1, 12-0) is unbeaten since a 71-67 home loss to then-No. 4 Arizona on Nov. 19 and is coming off a pair of blowouts.
On Tuesday, UConn followed up its 85-58 win at Creighton with a 92-60 romp past Xavier. The Huskies shot 56.7% Tuesday after shooting 54.1% Saturday at Creighton and both figures are their best in conference games.
“I feel great about our momentum,” UConn forward Alex Karaban said. “We’ve obviously found our stride right now with pretty big wins against Xavier and Creighton. St. John’s, really good team, really talented team, obviously well-coached and we’re gonna treat it as another Big East game.”
Silas Demary Jr. led the Huskies with 17 points and eight assists against Xavier. Demary, who picked UConn over St. John’s when he transferred from Georgia, has scored 47 points in his past three games while making 15 of his 26 shots.
Tarris Reed Jr. added 14 and is 19-for-20 from the field over his past three games while getting 41 rebounds in his past five games. The Huskies also got 13 points from freshman Braylon Mullins, who is 6-of-13 from 3-point range in the past two games after sitting out against Providence with a concussion.
St. John’s (17-5, 10-1) fell out of the AP top 25 after it took a 78-66 loss to Kentucky on Dec. 20 in Atlanta. The Red Storm hit their low point by blowing a 13-point lead and shooting 28.2% in a 77-71 home loss to Providence on Jan. 3 but are on their third-longest conference winning streak in school history since then.
St. John’s was unranked for the first five games of its current streak but is coming off two starkly different performances against Butler and DePaul. The Red Storm dominated their 92-70 win over Butler on Jan. 28 but struggled in the first half before doing enough in their 68-56 win at DePaul on Tuesday.
When the Red Storm lost to Providence, Zuby Ejiofor scored 33 points and nobody else reached double figures. During their winning streak, Ejiofor has led the team in scoring twice while five others also led in scoring.
“It’s UConn Friday night. MSG. What more could you ask for?” Ejiofor said after scoring 16 points Tuesday. “It’s just two great programs going head to head, two great coaches. It’s going to be exciting.”
“I think we’re ready. I feel like we match up well,” Red Storm forward Bryce Hopkins said after finishing with 15 points Tuesday. “And it’s a great matchup — head to head — and I think we’ll be ready for it.”
