No. 12 St. John’s beat No. 19 UConn for 10th straight win

By Canadian Press on February 7, 2025.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored six of his 21 points in the final 2:16 to help No. 12 St. John’s extend its winning streak to 10 games with a 68-62 comeback victory over No. 19 UConn on Friday night.

Kadary Richmond scored all 13 of his points in the second half and Simeon Wilcher added 12 for St. John’s (21-3, 12-1 Big East).

Liam McNeeley had 18 points for UConn (16-7, 8-4). Solo Ball had 13 points, while Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 points and 15 rebounds.

McNeeley, who missed the previous eight games with an ankle injury, had four points in a 6-0 run by UConn to put the Huskies up by six with 11:16 left in the second half. The Huskies couldn’t build on it as St. John’s regained the lead on back-to-back jumpers by Luis and Richmond.

Ball and Stewart scored eight points each as UConn jumped out to an early 21-8 lead. With the Huskies up by 14, Deivon Smith had a four-point play to begin an 8-0 run by St. John’s. The Red Storm took the lead for the first time on a basket by Wilcher with 2:29 left in the first half.

NO. 7 PURDUE 90, SOUTHERN CAL 72

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 7 Purdue to a victory over Southern California for its fourth straight win.

Fletcher Loyer added 14 points for the Boilermakers (19-5 11-2 Big Ten), who outrebounded the Trojans 48-31. Braden Smith and Caleb Furst each just missed joining Kaufman-Renn with double-doubles. Smith finished with 9 points and a team-high 13 assists, and Furst also had 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Redshirt freshman Wesley Yates III scored 22 of his career-high 30 points in the first half for the Trojans (13-10, 5-7). Yates, whose previous high was 21 points, had to play most of the second half with four fouls after he picked up his fourth with 16:25 minutes left. Isaiah Elohim added 11 points and Jalen Shelley 10 for USC.

The Trojans played their second game in a row without leading scorer Desmond Claude, who’s sidelined with a knee injury.

The Boilermakers shot 67% in the first half to take a 48-36 lead into halftime.

Both teams struggled from the 3-point line: USC shot 4 of 26, while Purude was 6 of 26.

The Associated Press