Joel Soriano's double-double lifts St. John's to upset win at No. 6 UConn
UConn's Adama Sanogo, right, fouls St. John's Joel Soriano in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, in Hartford, Conn. Credit: AP/Jessica Hill
HARTFORD, Conn. — Joel Soriano scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in St. John's win over No. 6 UConn 85-74 on Sunday — its first victory in Hartford since 1988.
The double-double was the 16th of the season for Soriano. AJ Storr and Posh Alexander each added 14 points for the Red Storm (13-6, 3-5 Big East), which has won two in a row after a five-game losing streak. Dylan Addae-Wusu and Rafael Pinzon added 12 points each and Andre Curbelo had 10.
Jordan Hawkins led all scorers with 31 for UConn (15-4, 4-4 Big East), which has lost four of its last five games after starting the season 14-0. Alex Karaban had 16 points and Adama Sanogo added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies.
The game was tied at the halftime, but St. John's scored the first two baskets after intermission and led the entire second half.
The Red Storm went up 68-60 on a break-away dunk by AJ Storr after UConn missed four shots that could have cut the lead to four points. That was part of a 9-0 run that put the Red Storm up by 13.
The Huskies led by as many as eight points in the first half before St. John’s fought its way back and after a 12-2 run went up 27-22. The teams traded leads the rest of the half and went into intermission tied at 38.
The game was extremely physical. UConn’s Donovan Clingan and David Jones of St. John's each picked up a flagrant foul for exchanging elbows after Clingan grabbed a rebound in the first half. St. John’s Posh Alexander and UConn’s Hassan Diarra chirped at each other later in the half, with each picking up technical fouls.
Sanogo got thrown out of the game for saying something to an official with less than a minute to go and Curbelo was tossed a few seconds later.
