MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

ST. JOHN’S at No. 6 UCONN

When: Sunday, noon

Where: Gampel Pavilion

Records: Creighton 9-6 (3-1 Big East), UConn 14-2 (3-2 Big East)

TV: FOX

Radio: UConn Sports Network, WAVZNew Haven (1300 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WATR-Waterbury (1320 AM), WICH-Norwich (1310 AM, 94.5 FM), WILIWilimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), 97.9 FMESPN Hartford, SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973

KEEP AN EYE ON

Stormy waters: The days of Chris Mullin and Walter Berry and Mark Jackson are long gone. The St. John’s men’s basketball program is a shadow of its former self, not quite sinking to Georgetown depths, but not winning an NCAA tournament game in 23 years.

Still, the Red Storm has given UConn tough battles over the past couple of seasons. Two seasons ago, on Jan. 18, 2021, with no fans in the stands due to the pandemic, St. John’s became one of the last teams to beat the Huskies in Gampel Pavilion. A few weeks later, Seton Hall won at Gampel. No visiting team has won since.

Last season, UConn nearly squandered a late lead and wound up beating the Red Storm in overtime at Gampel, 86-78. A month later, the Huskies escaped Madison Square Garden with a 63-60, Super Bowl Sunday victory.

So what about St. John’s has given the Huskies a challenge the past couple of seasons? Is it coach Mike Anderson’s aggressive, pressure defense? The Red Storm’s uptempo style?

“They’re hard to play against,” said coach Dan Hurley. “They play the motion offense, so you can’t always script the things you’re going to see from them offensively. Really aggressive, attacking players. We don’t have that attacking, aggression advantage when you play against Posh (Alexander).”

St. John’s had lost five in a row before beating Butler at home on Tuesday, but had given first-place Providence a battle on the road last weekend before falling 83-80.

“They’ve resembled more the team in the preseason that people said was a potential

NCAA tournament team,” Hurley noted.

The Red Storm’s biggest weapon is senior center Joel Soriano, who leads Division 1 with 15 double-doubles.

“He’s completely transformed his body, he’s playing above the rim,” Hurley said. “It’s impressive.”

Banged up Huskies: UConn, meanwhile, could be without freshman forward Alex Karaban, who banged his shoulder in Wednesday night’s loss at Marquette and didn’t participate in practice on Thursday and Friday.

“He’s such a tough guy, he just played through it,” Hurley reported. “He didn’t really feel it until (Thursday) ... That’s what you get from Alex Karaban. That guy’s the best.”

The coach added that an MRI appeared to look good, and that he was “hopeful” Karaban could practice on Saturday.

There was better news on the Samson Johnson front. The 6-10 sophomore forward participated in live situations in practice on Friday for the first time since sustaining a right foot stress reaction during the Huskies’ season-opening game on Nov. 7.

“That was a positive development,” Hurley said. “The last couple of days, he’s making good progress.”

Johnson will not play on Sunday, however.