St. John’s has its first statement victory of the season. And what a statement it was. Behind bruising physicality and an unrelenting press, No. 22 St. John’s dealt No. 3 UConn its first loss of Big East play, 81-72, on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Zuby Ejiofor scored a game-high 21 po ints with 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks to help the Red Storm extend their season-long winning streak to nine games. St. John’s (18-5; 11-1 vs. Big East) is now just a half-game behind the Huskies (22-2, 12-1 vs. Big East) in the conference standings. “The moment when the buzzer sounded and it was over and you realized that we just beat a really well-coached team, all the emotions really just flew out,” Ejiofor said. “I can’t really remember what was done or what was said, but I just let it all out.” The frontcourt trio of Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell combined for 40 points and 22 rebounds — including six offensive boards — as St. John’s imposed its will against a UConn team laden with NBA talent. Meanwhile, the Red Storm’s pesky pressure helped force 15 turnovers, which turned into 20 points. “It wears you out,” said St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who picked up the 903rd on-court victory of his career, tying him with Roy Williams for the third most all time. “A lot of times, the benefits of the press is, physically, they’re trying to get open for five seconds, and it tires you. It wears on your rebounding. It wears on your passing.” The game was tied, 45-45, with less than 17 minutes left in the second half when St. John’s unleashed a decisive 10-0 run. Hopkins capped that run with a 3-pointer with 13:30 to go. When Huskies head coach Dan Hurley called a timeout, a sellout crowd of 19,812 erupted with deafening glee. “I thought the Garden was as good as I’ve seen it,” said Pitino, who estimated 90% of the Garden crowd was supporting St. John’s. St. John’s held on from there, never relinquishing the lead. It was a two-point game when Dylan Darling sank a 3-pointer with just over three minutes remaining, putting St. John’s up 72-67. Ejiofor made a hook shot on the next possession that served as the dagger. “They’ve got a real physicality that plays real well in these conference games,” said Hurley, who called Friday’s loss “as hard a game as we’ve had to play this year.” UConn entered Friday on an 18-game winning streak, with its only loss coming to still-undefeated Arizona, now the No. 1 team in the country. The Huskies shot 54.7% from the field and finished 9-of-19 from 3-point range, but St. John’s won the rebounding battle (32-26) and committed seven fewer turnovers. “I could see our focus going into this game,” said Mitchell, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds. “I knew that this would be a game that we’re gonna come out the right way. Just our focus the past couple of days in the film room, on the court, going over things … I could tell all the guys were locked in.” Silas Demary Jr. led UConn with 18 points — including a highlight-reel dunk as the Huskies tried to claw back — on 7-of-11 shooting but committed nine turnovers. Alex Karaban scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while freshman Braylon Mullins — a projected lottery pick — managed only 11. Hurley was animated in arguing a pair of foul calls late in Friday’s first half, and he took issue after the game with some non-calls on the other end. St. John’s attempted 31 free throws, while UConn shot just 12 and made only five. “Officiating is a tough thing to do,” Hurley said. “That’s not why we lost.” With a rematch looming on Feb. 25 in Hartford, St. John’s now controls its own destiny as it attempts to repeat as Big East champions. UConn was the highest-ranked opponent that the Red Storm have beaten since they defeated No. 3 Villanova in February 2021. “I think it’s great, and I’m certainly going to celebrate tonight … but we’ve got Xavier [on Monday night at the Garden],” Pitino said. “First thing in the morning, we’re gonna lock in on Xavier. … We’ve just got to keep it going and keep getting better.” ...read more read less