NEW YORK — Tristen Newton totaled 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds as No. 2 UConn constantly answered comeback attempts by St. John’s in the second half and advanced to the championship game of the Big East tournament with a 95-90 victory Friday night.
The top-seeded Huskies (30-3) won their sixth straight and advanced to their first title game since returning to the Big East after losing three straight semifinal games by a combined eight points.
UConn, which will face the No. 3 seed Marquette in the final on Saturday, is seeking its first title since Kemba Walker led the Huskies to five wins in five days in 2011.
In the semifinals for the first time since 2000, fifth-seeded St. John’s (20-13) is seemingly safe for its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2019. The Red Storm entered the contest with a NET rating of 32 and since the NCAA started using the metric in 2019, the highest-rated team to miss out was NC State in 2019 at 33.
Newton scored 20 points in a blistering first half when the Huskies shot 63 percent. He finished 6-for-11 from the floor and also sank 10 free throws.
Cam Spencer added 20 points as the Huskies shot 57.4 percent overall and led for the final 32:56. Alex Karaban scored 14 as he, Newton and Spencer combined to hit 10 of the defending champions’ 11 3-pointers.
Daniss Jenkins scored 27 points for the Red Storm, who shot 45.1 percent. Jordan Dingle added 19 but Chris Ledlum and Joel Soriano were a combined 5-of-16 from the floor and scored six apiece.
After spotting St. John’s a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes, UConn gradually surged ahead. An uncontested 3 from the top of the key by Newton gave the Huskies the lead for good at 20-18 with 12:56 left. They took their first double-digit lead when Newton’s layup made it 34-24 five minutes later.
Seven points by Dingle in the final three-plus minutes helped St. John’s slice a 44-34 deficit to three points. The Red Storm trailed 52-47 by halftime after Jenkins’ reverse layup was ruled to be after the horn.
St. John’s moved within 56-54 on a jumper by Jenkins with 17:19 left. UConn had another answer, scoring the next eight and going on a 13-2 run to extend the lead 69-56 on a putback by Samson Johnson with 13:48 remaining.
UConn held an 89-78 lead on a basket by Donovan Clingan with 3:27 left. St. John’s inched back, getting within 91-85 on a layup by Glenn Taylor Jr. with 35 seconds left, but UConn sank four free throws the rest of the way.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
