HARTFORD, Conn. — The game, and the national buzz that would come along with it, was there for the taking.

A six-point halftime lead. Connecticut star center Donovan Clingan unavailable due to a foot injury. The Huskies struggling against the St. John’s zone.

All it took was a few more made shots. Some good fortune. Neither, unfortunately, happened down the frustrating stretch.

So St. John’s heads into the week-long Christmas break a disappointed group, unable to knock off undermanned fifth-ranked UConn at XL Center on Saturday night. The defending national champions survived, pulling out a 69-65 victory that really could’ve gone either way.

“We are coming as a basketball team. We are coming,” coach Rick Pitino said. “It should be a nice Christmas for these guys because they played their hearts out, they gave everything they had, and they lost on the road to a decent team.

“We had this game, we should’ve won it, but we are growing. Three weeks ago, [UConn] would’ve won by 25 today.”

St. John’s (8-4, 1-1) sure had its chances after Jordan Dingle and Glenn Taylor Jr. hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Johnnies a two-point lead with 4:15 left.

But very little went right the rest of the way.

St. John’s managed just two more points. Chris Ledlum missed two free throws with 17.7 seconds left and a chance to tie, and Daniss Jenkins missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left.

Pitino was far more upset at the two extra opportunities St. John’s gave UConn (11-2, 1-1) in the final 3:31 — one of which enabled the Huskies to pull even on a Stephon Castle follow and the other that allowed them to drain the clock in the final minute.

“We lost the game because we didn’t block out,” Pitino said. “It’s a missed opportunity, but it’s the best game we’ve played all year. The rebounding really bothered me, because it was Ledlum versus [UConn guard] Cam Spencer. That’s not right.”

Joel Soriano led St. John’s with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Jenkins had 13 but missed nine of his 13 attempts as St. John’s shot just 38.5 percent from the field and made just 4 of 18 attempts from 3-point range.

Samson Johnson, Clingan’s replacement, led Connecticut with 16 points, and Spencer and Tristen Newton each had 15.

Initially, the stage seemed a bit too big for St. John’s — the large crowd, the top-ranked opponent.

The Johnnies missed their first five shots. Connecticut scored 11 of the game’s first 14 points. It was getting loud at XL Center very early, the Huskies’ fans sensing blood.

But then Pitino switched to zone — the same zone that flummoxed Xavier on Wednesday. St. John’s settled down. Ledlum hit a 3-pointer. It finally got the ball inside to Soriano.

The Johnnies reeled off seven straight points and went on an extended 19-6 lead to go up five and took a six-point edge into the break.

UConn came out for the second half like it did the first.

After Taylor scored to extend the St. John’s lead to eight, the Huskies rattled off 10 consecutive points, waking up the crowd.

Spencer started with a 3-pointer after getting a rare clean look from deep, Newton converted a 3-point play and Johnson found himself all alone for a dunk, and UConn had its first lead since midway through the first half.

The foul began to pick up for both sides. With 12:18 left, Soriano picked up his fourth foul, sending the big man to the bench.

The two teams combined to take a combined 39 free throws over the final 20 minutes, 22 by the Huskies.

“It’s driving me crazy and I keep complaining about advantage-disadvantage,” Pitino said. “If there’s a rebound, there’s a little contact, don’t call the foul. Then the guy has to come out. It doesn’t affect the goddamn play. Let the kids play. If it doesn’t affect the play in any way — both teams — why do you call it? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The Hall of Fame coach wanted to be clear: He was not faulting the officials. The game was there to be won, and his team didn’t take it. Still, he left arena optimistic.

Since an ugly loss to Boston College two weeks ago, the Johnnies crushed Fordham, manhandled Xavier and nearly won at Connecticut. Their defense has gone from 127th in the country in efficiency to 62nd.

“I think we’re getting closer to what we want to be,” Soriano said. “We’re definitely taking steps, but we’re still not where we need to be.”