UConn held off St. John's in additional time on Wednesday night time.
USA TODAY Sports activities
STORRS, Conn. — One cease, one rebound. That’s all it will’ve taken for St. John’s to select up the win it had been searching for, a victory that will start to construct an NCAA Event résumé.
The Pink Storm didn’t get it, as an alternative receiving a number of unfortunate bounces in these ultimate seconds.
An impressed rally in opposition to Connecticut went for naught. A irritating additional time and fifth loss in six video games in opposition to a power-conference workforce adopted. St. John’s left Gampel Pavilion with an 86-78 loss after the Pink Storm have been unable to hold over their momentum from a improbable finish of regulation into additional time.
“It’s extraordinarily irritating,” stated junior star Julian Champagnie, who scored a game-high 27 factors. “I really feel like we had that one within the bag.”
Champagnie’s right-wing 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left had given St. John’s the lead, a capper to a livid 21-10 run that turned a 10-point deficit right into a one-point edge. Connecticut needed to go all the size of the court docket. Andre Jackson heaved the ball down court docket, inside Dylan Addae-Wusu’s grasp. However the sophomore might solely get one hand on the ball. It went out of bounds, enabling the Huskies to advance the ball with simply 0.7 seconds going off the clock.
In any other case …
“The sport is completed, they received to foul,” stated Champagnie, who scored a game-high 27 factors. “It’s how the sport goes.”
On the following play, Tyrese Martin missed in shut, however Aaron Wheeler couldn’t corral the carom. Adama Sanogo received to it, and was fouled with 1.3 seconds to go. He hit considered one of two free throws to power additional time, an additional session the Huskies dominated.
St. John’s (9-4, 1-2 Large East) led early within the further session, however after a Champagnie jumper, UConn (11-4, 2-2) scored the subsequent 11 factors — 4 from Sanogo (26 factors, 18 rebounds) — and by no means appeared again. The Pink Storm are actually 0-4 in Quad 1 video games.
“I do know this workforce right here, they’re not going to let go of the rope,” coach Mike Anderson stated. “They gave themselves an opportunity.
“I instructed them that was most likely one of the best sport they performed all 12 months lengthy.”
For the second straight sport, St. John’s was on the brief finish of a big foul discrepancy. The Pink Storm dedicated 26 fouls in comparison with the Huskies’ 13. In contrast to after their loss Saturday at Windfall, when Anderson ripped the officers, he declined to remark following this defeat.
There have been positives to take from what was clearly the Pink Storm’s greatest efficiency of the season. Wheeler took one other step ahead, scoring 13 factors and including seven rebounds, constructing on his 15-point effort at Windfall. St. John’s truly outrebounded UConn, 47-45, and almost doubled up the Huskies, 20-11, in second-chance factors. The Pink Storm by no means gave in, rallying from three completely different double-digit deficits and placing themselves in place to prevail regardless of taking pictures 34.6 p.c from the sector.
“Me, personally, I feel we're headed in the precise route,” Champagnie stated. “That’s how laborious we've to play each sport, for the total sport. These final 10 minutes, we actually picked up [our intensity] and began taking part in with tempo and aggression.”
Earlier than the sport, St. John’s introduced freshman guard Rafael Pinzon will probably be out indefinitely due to well being precautions. The freshman guard is coming off a bout with COVID-19.
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