University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
29-5,17-3Big East
St. John's
28-6,18-2Big East
Huskies Fall In BIG EAST Tournament Final
3/14/2026 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – The two-seed UConn men's basketball team (29-5) fell to top-seed St. John's (28-6) by a score of 72-52 on Saturday night in the Championship game of the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies were felled once again by turnover struggles, coughing it up a season-high 17 times, and cold outside shooting (3-19) as the Red Storm built an early lead and never relented. UConn was down 13 at half and got as close as seven midway through the second frame but couldn't complete a comeback. Tarris Reed Jr. led the Huskies with 17 points and seven rebounds in the setback.
How it Happened
The Red Storm opened the game with an 10-0 burst to take an early advantage. At 11:33 of the first a transition slam gave St. John's a 23-9 lead and triggered a UConn timeout. Another 7-0 run later in the frame gave SJU its largest lead when it went up 32-16 at the 8:20 mark. St. John's went on to take a 40-27 lead to the break thanks in part to turning 11 UConn turnovers into a 15-6 edge in points off miscues.
Early in the second a run of seven-straight for Connecticut forced a St. John's timeout with UConn down 47-36 after a Braylon Mullins three. After the stoppage the Huskies extended their run to 9-0 and pulled within single digits for the first time since the game's opening minutes. A pair of buckets from Reed Jr. got the Huskies within 49-42 and triggered another Red Storm timeout at 12:24.
Five-straight from the Red Storm after the stop swelled the lead back to double-figures. The Red Storm took advantage of a three-plus minute UConn scoring drought and pushed their lead back to 65-49 before a UConn timeout with 5:01 to play. That turned into a significant run and led to the eventual final.
Inside The Numbers
- The Huskies finished the day 19-of-56 (33.9 percent) from the floor and 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from three, while the Red Storm hit at a 48.2 percent (27-56) clip from the field and was 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) from downtown
- The Huskies won the rebounding battle, 38-30, and both teams scored 30 in the paint
- St. John's out-scored UConn 24-10 off turnovers, 11-10 in second chance points and 8-2 on the fast break
- The Red Storm finished with a 10-6 advantage in steals and an 8-2 edge in blocks
News and Notes
- UConn falls to 35-41 all-time against St. John's and 3-5 against the Red Storm in BIG EAST Tournament play
- The Huskies are now 8-4 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament title games
- The first 3-pointer of the game for Alex Karaban was his 276th career trifecta, now tied with Rashad Anderson for most in UConn history
- Karaban extended his program records for games played (145) and games started (144), while moving into a tie with Kemba Walker for ninth in UConn history with 1,783 career points
- The Huskies fall to 5-1 this season on 'neutral' floors. The game counts as neutral due to a classification change from the NCAA this season, even though St. John's plays its home games in the building
Up Next
The Huskies will await their NCAA Tournament destination ahead of the Selection Show on Sunday night.
