The NFL season came to a close on Sunday. And, really, so did any St. John’s hopes of a miracle run to get anywhere close to NCAA Tournament position.

If there were any hope left, it was extinguished in yet another ugly offensive showing when just mediocrity at that end of the floor would’ve produced a victory.

Over the final 7:46, St. John’s managed just five points in a 63-60 loss to No. 24 UConn at the Garden, dropping its record in Quad 1 games to a ghastly 1-9.

“We put ourselves in position, but that doesn’t get it done,” coach Mike Anderson said. “We have to make those [clutch] plays.”

Later, owning this loss, he added: “I told our guys that this one falls on me. Maybe I didn’t have the right people out there at the right time or I didn’t use my timeouts properly.”

A scoring drought of 5:46 enabled UConn to turn a seven-point deficit into a four-point edge — St. John’s missed eight straight shots in that span — and it never trailed again. Without Posh Alexander (ankle) for the second straight game, St. John’s just couldn’t produce enough offense. In the half-court in crunch time, there was very little direction or focus, a season-long trend when the Johnnies can’t get out in transition. Julian Champagnie, the All-Big East first-team preseason selection, couldn’t pick up the slack in a 6-for-16 shooting afternoon.

But as has been the case throughout this disappointing year, it was on everyone. St. John’s (13-11, 5-8 Big East) shot 7 of 13 from the free-throw line, which included Champagnie missing the front end of a one-and-one with 1:37 to go and the ability to pull even. St. John’s shot 33 percent from the field, hit 5 of 22 3-point attempts and missed 19 of 31 layups. Asked about his team’s inability to finish around the basket, Anderson called it a mystery. Champagnie was more blunt.

“The amount of layups we miss a game is unacceptable,” said the junior, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds. “We have to make shots. When we have open opportunities, we have to knock them down. … We have to get better at it — that goes for myself and everybody else.”

St. John’s was in position to pull out the victory after a Montez Mathis-led 8-0 run gave the Red Storm a four-point lead with 8:20 left. Sent to the bench after his 1 of 14 showing against No. 15 Villanova on Tuesday, Mathis scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half. After Stef Smith’s 3-pointer with 7:46 left, St. John’s had its largest lead of seven. The St. John’s faction of the building was alive.

Then came the drought.

UConn (17-7, 8-5) responded with 11 straight points to reclaim the lead with 3:47 left, as St. John’s went cold. Isaiah Whaley’s three-point play gave them the lead and Adama Sanogo’s basket pushed the edge to four, leading to an eruption from the large UConn portion of the crowd. Down two with under a half-minute left, St. John’s got the stop it needed, but Tyrese Martin (17 points) retrieved the offensive rebound and scored, emblematic of the Huskies’ dominance on the glass in the second half.

“We always talk about how the little things add up, and today they just had a little more grit going down the stretch than we did,” Anderson said.

It wasn’t just Sunday. It’s, in fact, become a microcosm of this frustrating season.

Former St. John’s star Maurice Harkless, the last first-round pick the Red Storm has produced (15th overall in 2012), was in attendance. He was in town for the Kings game on Monday against the Nets.