STORRS – On Compliment Day, St. John’s awoke to an insult.
Despite having won three straight Big East games and garnering seven points from media members earlier this week in the AP poll for the first time since 2002, the Red Storm were installed as 17 1/2-point underdogs for last night’s showdown in Storrs against No.1-ranked Connecticut.
The message was clear: The oddsmakers don’t think much of the wins over South Florida, Louisville and Pittsburgh. They don’t think much of St. John’s.
The only way to change that was to take the Huskies to the limit last night, so as guard Eugene Lawrence said, “people won’t think it’s a fluke, or an upset or anything.”
The Red Storm (10-6 overall, 3-2 in the Big East) played a No.1-ranked team before, but the Duke team that beat St. John’s 70-57 in December isn’t nearly as deep as the No.1-ranked Connecticut squad (16-1, 4-1) the Red Storm faced last night.
And the Blue Devils’ and their fans had no reason to want to obliterate St. John’s as Connecticut and its fans did.
This Connecticut-St. John’s rivalry took on an edge recently when East Hartford guard Dougie Wiggins reneged
on a non-binding verbal commitment to the Red Storm and signed with the Huskies.
“For the fans [this might add something], but I know for me, we’re playing the No.1 team in the nation,” said forward Ryan Williams. “No matter what happened, it’s not going to take away how hard we’re going to play.”
There has been unsubstantiated speculation on the recruiting trail that the Huskies stayed on Wiggins’ scent after he committed. St. John’s coach Norm Roberts has never said anything to quiet that conjecture. The Connecticut staff has maintained there was nothing inappropriate in the Wiggins affair.
The tensions increased recently when UConn coach Jim Calhoun jokingly told reporters his team’s charter flight was late because the Red Storm, which last used the plane, left a player at the team hotel and were delayed in their return trip.
Roberts responded by labeling the remarks as “stupidity” and said Calhoun wouldn’t think it funny if jokes were
made about computers and Connecticut. Two UConn players, including starting point guard Marcus Williams, were suspended for their roles in the theft of laptop computers.
Wiggins has attended most UConn home games and was set to see the showdown in Storrs until a wise Husky official recommended he stay home and defuse a tense situation. Therefore Wiggins didn’t see Roberts and Calhoun engage in a perfunctory pregame handshake and hear the fans rain boos on the Red Storm’s second-year coach.
Roberts acknowledged he’s concerned his team won’t be mature enough to remain focused in front of the rabid fans, the epic task of playing the No.1 team and the animosity between the programs. This is a chance for St. John’s to prove it isn’t a fluke.
“I know we’re not going to be happy with a loss because we feel we could beat them,” said Williams. “I guess a win, everybody would be like, ‘Wow, you beat the No.1 team in the country, that’s crazy.’ ”
*
Freshman Anthony Mason Jr. was a game-time decision because of the flu. UConn sharp-shooter Denham Brown was expected to play after recovering from food poisoning.
