UConn men bring Garden to life again

No. 18 Huskies get spark from bench in Big East victory over St.John’s

— The calendar flips to New York March this week, meaning the conference tournament season is almost here.

No. 18 UConn will be riding a tidal wave of momentum into the new month after finishing up a fantastic February by beating St. John’s, 95-86, Saturday in a nationally-televised Big East game at Madison Square Garden.

After a brutal January, the Huskies (22-7, 11-7) have rediscovered their UConn groove, winning St. John’s six of their last seven games including going 5-1 this month.

“Since the beginning of the month, we’ve played like a top five or six team,” coach Dan Hurley said.

They’re on a revenge tour, with their last four wins, including versus St. John’s, against teams that won the first meeting.

“We had to get our revenge,” sophomore Jordan Hawkins said. “These teams got us when we were at our lowest. We had to beat these teams and finish out the season strong. … I felt the momentum coming all February. We talked about dominating going into the postseason.”

The Huskies are even a more dangerous team when their reserves produce like they did against the Red Storm (17-13, 7-12).

Joey Calcaterra (a season-high tying 15 points), Donovan Clingan (nine points, six rebounds and a career-high tying five blocks) and Nahiem Alleyne (eight points) energized the Huskies and ignited the offense, combining for 32 points, the best output from the bench since Dec. 10 against Long Island. And they played without reserve Hassan Diarra (abdominal strain).

“We’re like the best team in the country when our bench plays like it did today,” Hawkins said. “If we continue to play like that, we’re pretty hard to beat.”

You name it, the Huskies did it better than they did in an 85-74 loss in the first meeting on Jan. 15 in Hartford.

Seven different Huskies scored at least eight points to power a bal

“We had to get our revenge. These teams got us when we were at our lowest. We had to beat these teams and finish out the season strong. I felt the momentum coming all February. We talked about dominating going into the postseason . ... We’re like the best team in the country when our bench plays like it did today.” UCONN GUARD JORDAN HAWKINS

anced attack.

Hawkins continued his scoring spree, finishing with 20 points. He came in averaging 19.9 points in the previous 10 games. Adama Sanogo added 18 points and nine rebounds while Andre Jackson tied a career high with 15.

UConn fans showed up in force in an arena that they consider a second home.

Chants of “Let's Go Huskies” broke out during UConn's first possession.

“It seemed like it was a home game, honestly, with all the fans we had here” said Tristen Newton, who had eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds in his first game at Madison Square Garden. “It was a good atmosphere.”

The Huskies gave their fans plenty to cheer about, seizing the lead for good three minutes and 45 seconds into the game and never looked back, leading by as many as 17.

Their advantage never dipped below nine points until inside the final minute of a foul-filled second half.

In less than two weeks, UConn will return to the World's Most Famous Arena for the Big East tournament.

“When we come back into the building, we're certainly going to have a lot of offensive confidence,” Hurley said.

UConn's bench production was the story right from the start.

The trio of Calcaterra, Clingan and Alleyne combined for 26 points to help the Huskies grab a 50-41 lead at intermission.

“That helped a lot,” Sanogo said of the bench's early contribution. “If they do that every time, we're a different team. We need them to do that.”

It was a breakout effort for Calcaterra who's been in a prolonged funk. He hit double figures for the first time since scoring 14 against Georgetown on Dec. 20.

“It feels good that I was able to contribute to a big win for us,” Calcaterra said.

Alleyne has been a steady contributor in recent weeks while Clingan is playing well again after battling through some freshman growing pains.

Saturday's game remained tight until UConn kicked into high gear in the final five plus minutes of the first half.

Alleyne buried a foul line jumper to start a 9-1 run. Then his nifty pass set up Clingan for a dunk, forcing St John's to call a timeout trailing 3627 with 5:19 left.

Calcaterra buried a 3-point to extend the lead to 12.

UConn kept attacking, getting easy baskets off transition. Calcaterra's 3-pointer pushed the lead to 50-35.

The Huskies went into the locker room in great shape, leading by nine.

They finished off defensive-challenged St. John's, which entered the game ranked next to last in scoring defense in league action at 78.4 points. They scored a season high for points in a Big East game.

Tempers flared at times, leading to four technical fouls.

Newton and St. John's Esahia Nyiwe exchanged words and received technical fouls in the first half. St. John's Dylan Addae-Wusu earned one in the second half after St. John's cut the gap to nine and coach Mike Anderson got one for complaining about a non-call.

A total of 44 fouls were called overall.

“It was a very physical game,” Hurley said. “There were a lot of wild things.”

The Huskies, who continue to reside in fifth place in the Big East, are closing in on securing one of five first round byes in the Big East tournament. They finish the regular season by hosting DePaul Wednesday and visiting Villanova Saturday.