UCONN MEN'S BASKETBALL: Huskies' rally falls short against St. John's (video)
NEW YORK -- Shabazz Napier didn't start the game. Ryan Boatright didn't start scoring until there were less than five minutes remaining. UConn trailed by 15 points early in the second half and showed no signs of being able to come back.
And then, the Huskies did. Yet again. You didn't expect UConn's last game of the year at Madison Square Garden to end that easily, did you?
Paced by the hot hands of Napier and Omar Calhoun, UConn put together another one of its patented comebacks, climbing all the way back to take its first lead of the game with 4 ½ minutes left.
But St. John's responded with a 9-0 run, and this time, the Huskies' noble fight fell short in a 71-65 loss at Madison Square Garden.
Not that head coach Kevin Ollie was extolling in any moral victories.
"When you play with energy, you see what happened in the second half," Ollie said afterwards. "That's on me, and I'm going to have to make changes."
Napier didn't start the game due to an unspecified violation of team rules. He didn't sit out long, entering just over six minutes into the action, but hardly made his presence felt with authority. Neither Napier nor Boatright, who combine to average more than 33 points per game, scored in the opening half. In fact, Calhoun (13) and DeAndre Daniels (seven) accounted for all the Huskies' first-half scoring as they trailed 31-20 at the break.
"We wanted him on the court," said Daniels. "We just came out really flat, not playing together and not talking to one another."
It's the second straight game UConn has had a horrific first half. Against South Florida on Sunday, the Huskies shot 19 percent in the opening half and trailed 27-15 at the break before rallying back for an overtime victory.
"If I knew what was missing, we wouldn't have come out like that today," said Niels Giffey (nine points, 10 rebounds). "We're still working on it, still trying to figure it out. The main thing we're talking about right now is energy. You could just feel the difference in the second half."
The Red Storm extended its lead to 15 (39-24) after Jakarr Sampson's driving layup with 16:18 left.
But Napier kicked off a head-spinning, 15-1 UConn run with a 3-pointer, and the Huskies eventually tied the game at 44.
UConn tied it again on a Boatright 3-pointer (his first points of the game) with 4:59 left and took its first lead on a pair of Boatright free throws 29 seconds later.
It would be the Huskies' only lead, however.
"We gave (Phil) Greene a straight layup off a pick-and-roll. Just a breakdown," said Ollie. "Then we had a breakdown in the fast break with (D'Angelo) Harrison. And, we didn't make shots. It had nothing to do with lack of energy, being tired. We just didn't make the plays when necessary, and I give credit to St. John's."
Calhoun finished with a game-high 21 points, Napier added 14 and Daniels 12. Boatright finished with a season-low five points.
UConn fell to 15-6, 5-4 Big East. The Red Storm improved to 15-8, 7-4.
RIM RATTLINGSThings got chippy near the midway point of the second half, when Sampson and UConn's Enosch Wolf were each called for flagrant-one technical fouls.
Wolf had inadvertently elbowed Sampson in the face while corralling a rebound about two minutes earlier. Apparently, he elbowed Sampson again at around the 13-minute mark, and this time Sampson responded by pushing Wolf, which was caught by the referees.
After reviewing the play, the refs hit Wolf with the ''T'', as well, for the second elbow.
"The first time down the court, he elbowed me after he missed and I was like, 'OK,'" Sampson said. "The second time it happened, I was just a little upset. I probably shouldn't have reacted the way I did, but it happens. It's over."
Explained Wolf: "I guess I hit him with an elbow when I got a rebound. I ran back, kinda bumped into him, we exchanged a couple of words, he didn't like it. He pushed me on the court, and the refs saw it and called a foul. I think they looked it up on tape and called the foul on me for the elbow and on him for the push."
Both players made one of two free throws.