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Less than three weeks ago, as St. John’s was wrapping up an impressive victory over Marquette, its giddy fans began a chant.
“We Want UConn!” they roared. “We Want UConn!”
The reaction by some on social media: Are you sure about that?
The two-time defending national champion Huskies were getting star freshman Liam McNeeley back from an ankle injury, and were still within striking distance of the first-place Johnnies.
Two matchups later, St. John’s fans may need to shoot higher than UConn.
With Sunday’s 89-75 beatdown at a sold-out Garden, 10th-ranked St. John’s swept its rival for the first time since 1999-2000 and inched closer to the program’s first outright Big East regular-season crown since 1985. The Johnnies have won three straight and 13 of 14.
With a win Wednesday at Butler, the Red Storm would clinch a share of the title.
“We want this Big East crown badly, not only for the players, but for the fans who came back like I never expected,” coach Rick Pitino said after the Red Storm snapped Connecticut’s eight-game Garden win streak.
Outside of a brief stretch in the second half when the Huskies got hot from 3-point range, this meeting wasn’t nearly as close as the first encounter, a six-point St. John’s win in Storrs, Conn.
After that win, Pitino felt his team played poorly, the worst performance in its then-10-game winning streak.
It was much better Sunday.
All five starters scored in double figures, led by 18 points apiece from Kadary Richmond (four assists, two blocks, two steals) and Zuby Ejiofor (nine rebounds, six assists, three blocks), and St. John’s (24-4, 15-2) shot better than 40 percent from 3 (8-for-19) for the second straight game.
A question mark to play, RJ Luis started and had 14 points on a bad groin, and Deivon Smith tallied 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
A bloodied Aaron Scott chipped in 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
UConn (18-9, 10-6) committed 18 turnovers, leading to 24 St. John’s points — after turning it over 22 times in the first game vs. the Johnnies.
McNeeley (14 points) made just 2-of-13 shots from the field, and sophomore star Solo Ball wasn’t much better, going 5-for-13. St. John’s had 11 blocks and 11 steals.
“Quite a performance by our guys,” Pitino said.
Pitino couldn’t have scripted a better opening 20 minutes. St. John’s hit 8-of-16 three-point attempts was nearly perfect at the free-throw line and forced nine UConn turnovers.
The Johnnies took command with a 16-2 run and went into the break up big, 50-32. Connecticut had a whopping six chances on its final possession of the first half but came up empty.
There was also an eight-point possession for the Johnnies: A Scott 3-pointer, two Ejiofor free throws following a Samson Johnson flagrant foul, and a Luis triple.
It was that kind of half for St. John’s.
“This is some of our [players’] last years [here] and we’re taking advantage of each and every moment,” Smith said. “It’s a super special team. We’re making history almost every game.”
Connecticut predictably punched back in the second half.
The 3-pointers started to fall and the Huskies drew within nine after an Alex Karaban 3 with 12:25 to go.
Their fans were making themselves heard.
Pitino called a timeout.
Ejiofor, one of three captains, spoke up during the break.
“We’ve battled injuries, we don’t wilt,” he told his teammates. “We’ve been here before, we know what to do.”
Richmond, battling groin issues of his own, took the cue. He scored on consecutive midrange jumpers and Simeon Wilcher scored on a pull-up. The lead was back to 16 and the party was on.
A year ago, Connecticut beat St. John’s three times — and twice at the Garden — on its way to a second straight national title. Those MSG games were overrun by Huskies fans. That was not the case on Sunday.
“I can assure you we had most of the fans today. We did not last year,” Pitino said. “It was about 70/30 this year. They have a great fan base. They are like Kentucky — the Kentucky of the east. But our fans were there in a big way today.”