Senior guard Dwight Hardy has scored a game-best 12 points for the St. John's Red Storm, who lead the Connecticut Huskies (No. 10 in the AP pol and No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) at halftime, 32-31, in a Big East Conference game at Madison Square Garden. Hardy nailed a 3-point shot in the final seconds of the first half to help the Johnnies (13-9, 5-5 Big East) earn a one-point margin heading into the locker room.
Trailing 25-19 at about the five-minute mark, the Huskies (18-4, 6-4) used a 12-4 run, capped by freshmen forward Roscoe Smith sinking a 3-pointer, to take a 31-29 advantage with less than a minute remaining. Hardy answered UConn's run with a 3-ball from the corner.
Thanks to poor shooting by UConn, which began the game 2-of-12 from the field, St. John's jumped out to a 16-11 lead. The Huskies finished the half 10-of-33 (30.3) on field goals and 4-of-12 from behind the 3-point arc. Junior guard Kemba Walker has a team-best nine points, including three 3-pointers.
Senior forward D.J. Kennedy has netted eight points and grabbed a game-best nine rebounds for St. John's, which shot 5-of-8 (62.5) from 3-point land. Senior guard Paris Horne chipped in with seven points.