EXTRA HELP
Bench rose to the occasion against St. John’s
NEW YORK — Joey Calcaterra was making 3-pointers and skipping back in transition, whooping it up with a crowd that was very much pro-UConn on this big-city afternoon — or simply seemed to be for the the performance of the visiting team and the lungs of its fans.
Doesn’t matter. UConn owned the building and owned the day, stomping St. John’s to the delight of at least a few thousand and rolling to a 95-86 victory, the course for which was set by its reserves.
Calcaterra, breaking free from a prolonged slump, was 4-for-6 from the field for 15 points. Donovan Clingan had nine points, six rebounds (five offensive) and five blocks. Nahiem Alleyn added eight points.
Together over a combined 50 minutes, those players were 11-for-19 from the field for 32 points, 26 of which helped UConn build a 50-41 halftime lead. It was was all over not long after it got started, really, a relatively easy day of work even though a physical and chippy game.
“Man, we’re like the best team in the country when our bench plays the way it played today,” starting guard Jordan Hawkins said.
Hawkins had 20 points, reaching that plateau for the seventh time in nine games. He has become, without question, a First-Team All-Big East guard. Adama Sanogo, the preseason conference player of the year, had 18 points and nine rebounds. Andre Jackson, having emerged from what felt like a mental corn maze in response to the unique way opponents defend him, was terrific with 15 points, tying a career high.
So the starters were fine. But the bench? Next level, particularly early on. There have been more productive days for the reserves — 47 points against LIU, 40 against Florida, for instance — but there have been no more important performances, given the late-February timing and unforeseen circumstances.
Hassan Diarra was ruled out before the game with an abdominal injury, Jackson was a game-time decision due to flulike symptoms and Clingan had a rough day all around. He had a tooth knocked out by a wayward ball in warm-ups and he walked away limping pretty significantly, after just five second-half minutes. He endured numerous shots to the lower body and a shin took the worst of