STORRS, Conn. — Did St. John’s really beat UConn? The simple answer is, yes! St. John’s upset No. 23 UConn 74-70 on Monday with Posh Alexander scoring 18 points for the Red Storm, who outscored the Huskies 42-35 in the second half to set up the victory.
Alexander The Main Man For St. John’s
Alexander made 6 of 11 shots from the field, including three 3-pointers to go with six assists, four rebounds, and three steals for St. John’s to secure the victory in the first meeting between the rivals since February 2013.
UConn led for most of the second half, but Alexander made a pair of free throws to lock the scores at 59-all with 6:36 remaining.
After another tied score at 64-64, St. John’s took the lead for good with 3:33 and even went on to build a four point advantage.
Tyrese Martin did hit a 3-point jumper to trim the deficit to one point at 71-70 with 53 seconds to go, but Rasheem Dunn split his two free throws and Julian Champagnie made two more attempts from the stripe to seal the win.
Marcellus Earlington scored 15 points and made all three of his shots from deep with five rebounds off the bench, while Champagnie scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half with six rebounds for the Red Storm (8-7, 3-6) who were winning for just the second time in five games.
Also contributing to the victory were Dunn who scored 11 points and Dylan Addae-Wusu who contributed 10.
R.J. Cole paced UConn with 18 points and five assists and made 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
Martin had 14 points, six rebounds, and six steals and freshman Adama Sanogo finished with a season-high 12 points for the Huskies (7-2, 4-2), who were again without leading scorer James Bouknight.
Bouknight, who is averaging 20.3 points and 5.3 rebounds this season, missed his third consecutive game as he continues to recover from elbow surgery.
St. John’s 74, No. 23 UConn 70 – Box Score
ST. JOHN’S (8-7)
Roberts 3-4 0-0 6, Alexander 6-11 3-6 18, Dunn 3-4 5-6 11, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Champagnie 2-9 7-10 12, Addae-Wusu 4-5 2/3 10, Earlington 5-8 2-2 15, V.Cole 0-3 0-0 0, Moore 1-2 0-0 2, Toro 0-1 0-0 0, McGriff 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 19-27 74.
UCONN (7-2)
Sanogo 6-11 0-0 12, Whaley 4-8 1-2 9, Adams 1/3 4-4 7, R.Cole 6-16 2-4 18, Martin 4-11 5-8 14, Polley 2-8 2-2 7, Gaffney 1-1 1-1 3, Carlton 0-1 0-2 0, Akok 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 15-23 70.
Halftime–UConn 35-32. 3-Point Goals–St. John’s 7-15 (Earlington 3-3, Alexander 3-5, Champagnie 1-4, Williams 0-1, V.Cole 0-2), UConn 7-19 (R.Cole 4-7, Adams 1-2, Martin 1-4, Polley 1-6). Rebounds–St. John’s 28 (Champagnie 6), UConn 28 (Whaley 8). Assists–St. John’s 13 (Alexander 6), UConn 14 (R.Cole 5). Total Fouls–St. John’s 18, UConn 19.
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