The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
In a New York groove
Huskies roll to victory over St. John’s at MSG
NEW YORK — Next up, March.
The UConn men’s basketball team may have been the best team in the country in November and December. Conversely, the Huskies struggled so much in January, going 3-5 (3-6 if you count a New Year’s Eve loss at Xavier), that Dan Hurley would just as soon etch that month from the 2023 calendar.
“January,” the UConn coach said, “was a pretty forgettable month for us.”
February has been much better. The 18th-ranked Huskies finished off the shortest month on Saturday with an impressive, 95-86 whipping of St. John’s. Jordan Hawkins led four Huskies in double figures, Andre Jackson Jr. matched his career scoring high (15), Joey Calcaterra stepped up with his season scoring high (15), and UConn got 32 points from its bench as it improved to 22-7 overall, 11-7 in the Big East.
UConn finished 6-1 in February and has looked, at least for three of its last five games, like that wagon that won its first 14 games of the season before the New Year kicked in.
“February resembles more like November, December,” Hurley noted. “Every day, we’re further away from January.”
The Huskies trailed for just over two minutes in this one, taking control with a 15-6 run late in the first half capped by a highlight-reel, alley-oop Jackson Jr. dunk off a pass from Hawkins, then a Hawkins trey.
“It was a terrible pass, but it’s Andre Jackson, so ...,” Hawkins said of his assist. “I just threw it up in the air. When you’ve got a guy you can just throw the ball in the air and he’ll go get it, it brings you momentum.”
UConn owned a 50-41 lead at the break behind 11 points apiece from Hawkins and Cal