Guard the Yard: UConn blasts St. John's 72-40 behind smothering defense
HARTFORD – Dan Hurley vehemently voiced his complaints about his team’s lack of physicality and prowess on the glass ahead of UConn’s top 15 rematch with St. John’s Wednesday.
That list included (but was not limited to): on-ball defense, paint defense, 3-point defense, free throw rebounding, free throw shooting, bench production, turnovers and killer instinct.
He didn’t have much to complain about after Connecticut (26-3, 16-2) waxed the red-hot Johnnies (22-6, 15-2) 72-40 in front of a sold-out and unglued PeoplesBank Arena crowd, however.
“It was just our night,” Hurley admitted. “It just starts snowballing on you when you have a night like this. Obviously, we played really good defense. I thought we demoralized them a little bit when the score got to where the score got. It was one of those nights where everything went great for us.”
That it was, coach. Wednesday’s 32-point shelling felt cathartic. Emphatic. Personal. And glaringly lopsided.
“It’s taking pride on the defensive end,” Alex Karaban said. “Really guarding our yard and having trust in one another. Trust that we’re going to help each other out. Trust that we’re going to be in the gaps. Trust that we’re going to help Tarris or Eric when they hedge a ball screen.”
Connecticut, unlike on Feb. 6 when it lost to the Red Storm in Madison Square Garden, dominated on the glass, seldom turned the ball over and bottlenecked St. John’s trio of frontcourt muscle en route to handing the Johnnies their worst loss of the Rick Pitino era.
Big East Player of the Year frontrunner Zuby Ejiofor turned in just his third single-digit scoring performance of the season, finishing with 6 points, 4 rebounds and a season-low minus-27 plus/minus. Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell, who combined for 29 points three weeks ago, totaled only three field goals.
St. John’s didn’t sink a field goal for the final 17 and a half minutes of regulation. It missed its last 24 attempts and made only two shots from the field in the second half.
Tarris Reed Jr. is to thank for that, according to Hurley.
“To me, the game was about just Tarris Reed and what he’s capable of,” Hurley said with a pointed smile. “Today’s performance was a good a center has played for us in a game.”
The Kodiak Bear, heralded by Hurley as a defensive monster after his “complete” game at Villanova last Saturday, put St. John’s vaunted frontcourt in a vice grip from the opening tip, working on whichever defender had switched on to him for easy looks at the rim.
“Most people change in life because of pain,” Hurley said. “Pain forces people to change. The pain of that Creighton game and the pain of that St. John’s game at MSG has lit something with that guy.”
Reed exited – much to St. John’s rejoice – to a standing ovation at the three minute mark with a game-high 20 points, 11 rebounds and 6 blocks in 30 minutes. With Reed as the vanguard, and despite Eric Reibe being in foul trouble, the Huskies outscored St. John’s 42-12 in the paint and 12-6 on second chance points.
“Through pain and through suffering, that’s where you get the true testament of a man,” Reed said. “When you come out on top, when you go through the fire, you go through adversity and you come out victorious, that’s all credit to the guys around me, the coaching staff and especially coach Hurley.”
Reed twirled past Mitchell, the Big East’s hardiest defender, for an easy lay-in late in the first half before muscling an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession that turned into a Solo Ball 3-pointer and second St. John’s timeout.
He single-handedly (quite literally considering his penchant for wrangling the ball with one hand over Johnny defenders) controlled the flow of the game.
Reed shared a game-high plus-30 plus/minus with Karaban, who played his 34th and final game in Hartford as a Husky Wednesday – finishing with a record of 33-1.
“I definitely almost shed a tear coming off this court today,” Karaban said of his final game in PeoplesBank Arena. “Realizing all the great memories I had, all the great games that I’ve played here, knowing that I won’t play another game in here again hit hard for me.”
Wednesday wasn’t short of great memories for the redshirt senior. Karaban finished as one of three Huskies in double figures (14), sinking a pair of 3-pointers that ignited the crowd early in the first half.
Silas Demary Jr. (7 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) and Solo Ball (11 points, 4 assists) keyed in the Huskies first half blitz, with Ball drilling a 3-pointer from the corner that left Ejiofor dejected on the wing.
UConn never allowed the wiry Red Storm offense to get into transition, winning on fast breaks 14-0. Demary’s turnovers – or lack thereof – certainly helped with that.
“It’s a very complex offense,” Demary said referencing his nine turnovers against St. John’s in the Garden earlier this month. “I had some struggles, ups and downs, picking and choosing my spots and when to be aggressive… as we get closer and closer to the end of the season, Coach Hurley, [Alex Karaban] and Coach Murray are helping me see the floor and seeing my reads.”
The Huskies will have to swallow this feeling of ostensible bliss, however. Perhaps the only team that plays harder than St. John’s will be in Storrs by Saturday, when Seton Hall comes to Gampel Pavilion for Senior Day.
“I’ve tried not to think about it,” Karaban admitted. “I can be emotional, so I think I will cry. We just have to get to Saturday and see what happens.”
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