St. John's downs UConn for 1st-ever back-to-back Big East championships | amNewYork

"For the first time ever, the St. John's Red Storm are back-to-back Big East champions after defeating UConn in a wire-to-wire 72-52 win in the conference title game on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. When these teams last met, the Huskies handed the Johnnies a humbling 32-point loss, snapping the team's 13-game winning streak and leaving them eager for redemption."

"For the third straight game, the Johnnies opened on a double-digit scoring run. The surge continued until a foul by Dillon Mitchell sent UConn's Solo Ball to the line for an and-one, cutting the deficit to 10-3 four minutes into the contest. St. John's smothering defense forced the Huskies to get creative offensively, even denying freshman Braylon Mullins any clean looks from beyond the arc."

"Oziyah Sellers poured in eight points in the opening five minutes, while a pair of threes from Zuby Ejiofor and emphatic dunks from Mitchell and Hopkins brought the Madison Square Garden crowd to its feet. From there, the Red Storm kept their momentum, never allowing the gap to shrink below 12, despite short UConn resurgences."

St. John's Red Storm achieved back-to-back Big East championships by defeating UConn 72-52 in the conference title game at Madison Square Garden. This victory provided redemption after UConn previously handed St. John's a 32-point loss that snapped their 13-game winning streak. St. John's had defeated UConn 81-72 in their most recent regular season matchup at the same venue. The Red Storm dominated through suffocating defense and strong offensive execution, opening with double-digit scoring runs for the third consecutive game. Key contributors included Zuby Ejiofor with 18 points and Oziyah Sellers with eight points in the opening minutes. St. John's maintained a lead that never fell below 12 points, capitalizing on UConn turnovers for 15 first-half points.

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