No. 12 St. John’s beat No. 19 UConn for 10th straight win
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond dribbles around UConn center Tarris Reed Jr., back, in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
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.