UConn Huskies St. John's Storm
18-4 (10-0) 14-9 (8-3)
Sunday, February 4th 2024
Time: 3:00 PM
Gampel Pavilion
Storrs, CT
TV: CBS Sportsnet
Prior Meetings
UCONN LEADS ST. JOHN’S
48-18 H: 22-8 | A: 21-9 | N: 5-1
Last 12 games
03/05/12 #4 UConn 74, #13 SJU 43 Hartford, Conn.
02/02/13 #3 UConn 71, SJU 65 Queens, N.Y.
01/04/15 #2 UConn 70, SJU 54 Queens, N.Y.
11/23/18 #2 UConn 65, SJU 55 St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
02/03/21 #3 UConn 94, SJU 62 Storrs, Conn.
02/17/21 #1 UConn 77, SJU 33 Queens, N.Y.
03/06/21 #1 UConn 77, SJU 41 Uncasville, Conn.
01/23/22 #9 UConn 75, SJU 57 Queens, N.Y.
02/25/22 #7 UConn 93, SJU 38 Hartford, Conn.
01/11/23 #4 UConn 82, SJU 52 Elmont, N.Y.
02/21/23 SJU 69, #4 UConn 64 Hartford, Conn.
1/13/24 #13 UConn 92, SJU 49, Queens, N.Y.
St. John's Season to Date
The Red Storm did not get off to the fast start like they did last season, But they are 10-7 and 4-1 in the conference losing only to Creighton and beating Marquette, the two best teams in the conference other than UConn.
They have had some bad losses, losing to Monmouth 74-69, Jackson State 60-56, Fairfield 67-62.
They lost to UConn on January 13th 92-49 and in the five games since then they are 4-1, beating Butler 60-42, losing to Seton Hall in overtime 74-66, and then winning their last three games over DePaul in overtime 83-77, Georgetown 57-56 and Xavier 67-55.
It should be noted that those five games were against the bottom five teams in the conference. I guess you could call it the weakest part of their conference schedule.
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn St. Johns's
83.4 PPG 60.8
59.9 Defensive PPG 57.5
23.5 Scoring Margin 3.3
51.8 Field Goal % 42.7
37.2 Defensive FG% 42.5
38.2 Three Point % 31.0
30.7 Defensive 3PT% 29.8
74.3 Free Throw % 72.9
37.2 Rebounds/game 31.2
4.8 Rebounding Margin -1.1
20.2 Assists per game 12.2
13.2 Turnover per game 13.8
1.5 Assists/TO ratio 0.9
10.2 Steals per game 6.9
3.5 Blocks per game 2.7
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
OUT FOR THE SEASON
Head and Neck issues
ACL
Achilles Injury
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St. John's
St. John's Starters
St. John's Bench
Not much has changed since the first game where UConn layeth the smackdown on the Johnnies. It was really ugly. My writeup on the players might look familiar as it will be the same as I wrote from the first game. I will update the stats and comment on how each player did in the first matchup this season.
No starters back for St. John's and as usual a few transfers to fill up the roster. Last year UConn beat St. John's on the road by 30 points and then in the rematch the Red Storm upset the Huskies for their first win over UConn in 12 years. Jillan Archer is the only returning starter and Unique Drake the only other player that saw time in the upset. Edwards, Muhl and DeBerry are the only UConn players that played in that game.
In the first matchup the Huskies had a terrific game, beating up on an overmatched St. John's team 92-49. All nine players got minutes and everyone contributed.
The Huskies started out on fire making 5 of their first 6 three point shots. They jumped out to a 22-6 lead with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. It sure looked like a UConn runaway. St. John's had other ideas. They outscored UConn 12-2, hitting a three pointer at the buzzer.
That hope didn't last long for the Johnnies. UConn scored the first 11 points of the second quarter to take a 35-17 lead and the rout was on. St. John's was outscored 30-14 in the third quarter and 18-10 in the fourth quarter. There was no letdown no matter who was in the game.
Unique Drake was the main player off the bench last season and is now a starter. The 5'7" Grad Student guard is the best and most prolific three point threat that UConn will have to keep an eye on. She shoots 39.6% on those long range shots. She is not careful with the ball and Uconn will look to turn her over. She leads the team in scoroing at 18.7 PPG. She takes around 7 three pointers a game and makes around 3 of those. In the first game UConn put Nika on her and she only had 4 points, and was only able to take 3 shots. Covered like a blanket.
Jillian Archer, a 6'2" Grad Student forward is a transfer from Georgetown. This year she is averaging 11.2 PPG and 7.2 RPG. She is the only player on the roster taller than 6'1". She leads the team in blocked shots at 1.5 blocks per game. In the first game Archer had 6 points and only 1 rebounds. She didn't block a shot.
Ber'niya Mayo is a 5'6" senior guard is a transfer from UMass. She was Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team and the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament MVP. This season she is third in scoring at 10.4 PPG. Looking at her shooting percentages, I have no idea how she scores even that much. She is shooting 39.2% from the field and 14-65 (21.5%) on threes. She leads the team in assists with 84 and only 44 turnovers. In the first game she came off the bench for 10 points and 4 assists.
Tara Daye is another transfer, this time from DePaul where she averraged 11.8 minutes, 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. The 5'10" sophomore guard is only scoring 4.1 PPG, and 3.6 RPG for the Johnnies in her 23.5 MPG. In the first game she had 2 points and 1 rebound.
The final starter is 6' junior forward Phoenix Gedeon a transfer from Rpbert Morris. She was All-Horizon League Third Team and appeared in all 30 games making 27 starts for the Colonials. She led the team with 13.0 points, and 8.3 rebounds per contest. This season for St. John's she is averaging 2.0 PPG and 4.4 RPG. In the first game she had 2 points and 1 assist.
Off the bench St. John's plays two 5'7" sophomore guards Skye Owen and Jaliah Donald. No, neither one is a transfer. Owen averages 6.0 PPG and leads the team in steals with 36. In the first game she had 8 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Donald averages 5.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG. In the first game she had 11 points and 4 rebounds.
So, there you have it. The lowdown on the St. John's' rotation. They beat Providence 55-47 and the Huskies just won against the same Friar team by 46 points. UConn has a big advantage at every position.
St. John's only shoots 42.7% from the field and 31.0% on threes. They have an awful assists to turnover ratio at 280/317. They do turn teams over with 17.4 per game.
In the last matchup the UConn players were terrific.
Paige played 25 minutes but scored 22 points, going 8-9 from the field, 2-2 on threes and 4-4 from the free throw line. She added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
This was Ice Brady's best game to date. I hope she remembers that. In her 24 minutes, she was 7-11 from the field, 3-4 from the free throw lines, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Muhl played 27 minutes and had another double digit scoring effort with 11 points. 3-4 on threes and her percentage keeps going up and up. She added 4 rebounds, 6 assists and only 1 turnover. Her defense on Unique Drake was impressive.
In her 26 minutes Edwards was 8-12 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 7th double double in her last 10 games. It was just a solid game as Edwards controled the paint.
Shade had a nice game. She was 3-4 on threes in scoring 13 points. She had 3 assists and zero turnovers.
Arnold struggled to finish at the basket only going 2-7 from the field for 4 points in her 27 minutes. But she had seven assists and ZERO turnovers.
Q only took 3 shots in her 15 minutes, but none were rushed or out of the offensive flow and she made all of them. She also hit her only three pointer. She added 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
UConn had their best shooting game on the season hitting 64% of their shots and 60% on threes. They had 29 assists and outrebounded St. John's 37-14. Thats a crazy number.
Final Prediction
Has UConn totally recovered from the Notre Dame Hangover after that really good second half against Villanova? That is really the only question in this game. UConn won by 43 in the prior matchup and this time the Huskies are in the freindly confines of Gampel, althought that is where they had their heads handed to them against the Irish. I think this will be big win for the Huskies.
UConn by 40+.
GO UCONN!!!
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