UConn Falls Short To St. John In Overtime, 85-83

(boxscore)

NEW YORK (February 9, 2002) – St. John’s guard Marcus Hatten had a career-high 34 points, while Caron Butler (So., Racine, WI) and Ben Gordon (Fr., Mount Vernon, NY) each matched theirs for Connecticut, but the Red Storm held off the Huskies in overtime, 85-83, on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

With the loss, the Huskies slipped to 15-6 and 7-3 in the BIG EAST, while SJU improved its record to 16-7 and 6-5 in the league.

Turnovers were the story in the early going with St. John’s running out to an 8-2 lead thanks to four by the Huskies. UConn countered though when the Red Storm turned it over on three consecutive possessions to trigger a 6-0 run that tied it at 10 each. Minutes later with the game even at 18, St. John’s answered with a run of its own (9-0) to open a 27-18 advantage.

With just over five minutes remaining before the break, UConn head coach Jim Calhoun was issued a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game. St. John’s hit six straight free throws to make it 33-27. From there, Gordon helped rally the Huskies by scoring 10 of his 15 first half points while UConn held St. John’s to just four in the closing moments to draw within five, 37-32, at the half.

Johnnie Selvie (Sr., Flint, MI) nailed a pair of free throws to bring the Huskies to within three to start the second, but St. John’s stayed on top stretching it to as many as a dozen on two occasions.

UConn continued to chip away though even after Associate Head Coach Dave Leitao was charged with a technical at the 2:53 mark. St. John’s helped the UConn cause by missing key free throws in the closing minutes including a string of six misfires on eight attempts.  Butler (So., Racine, WI) got it down to three again with 17 seconds to go in regulation and after St. John’s was unable to convert from the foul line, UConn trailed it 72-69. Connecticut looked to Butler to tie the game, and he was fouled by Donald Emanuel. Butler then went to the line with five seconds remaining and hit all three of his shots to even the game. St. John’s had its shot to win, but Hatten’s runner rolled off the rim and the game went into overtime.

The lead changed hands two times and the score was tied twice in the extra period, but a Eric King lay in with 1:57 to go put St. John's up for good. 

Butler led the way for the Huskies as he finished the night with 29 points and a career high 15 rebounds to notch his second double-double in as many games. Gordon dropped in 23, while Hatten who was held to 6 of 26 from the field earned most of his with a BIG EAST record 21 free throws. Selvie stayed steady for UConn with his 10 points and 10 boards for his third double-double of the season. Emeka Okafor (Fr., Houston, TX) had six blocks, while Taliek Brown (So., Queens, NY) totaled the same number in the assist department.

UConn returns home for a Monday, Feb. 11 contest against Villanova at the Hartford Civic Center. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN and tip time is set for 7 p.m.