St Johns St. John's/Connecticut UConn Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Butler hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation, and the 10th-ranked Huskies outscored St. John's 7-5 in the extra period en route to an 82-80 victory Saturday.


	Donald Emanuel, left, goes up to block the shot of UConn's Marcus Cox in the first half. The Huskies beat St. John's in OT.

"I remember the coach saying, 'Have your shoulders above your knees, catch the ball in a good position, follow through' and that's exactly what I did," Butler said. "It was a situation that I wanted to be placed in and everything came through for me."

With the score tied at 80, Connecticut's Souleymane Wane was fouled by Omar Cook and made the first of two free throws. Wane grabbed his own rebound and was fouled again, this time by Willie Shaw. Again, Wane made one of two shots for a two-point lead.

"We learned tonight, whether you are up or down, the game is not over. That's probably the number one thing," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

The game had 10 lead changes. With the win, the Huskies (12-2, 1-1 Big East) avoided their first 0-2 conference start in a decade. They lost to Boston College on Wednesday night. St. John's (7-6, 1-1) had its three-game winning streak snapped.

The Red Storm had three chances to score in the final minute of overtime. Cook's jumper missed and was knocked out of bounds by the Huskies. On the next possession, Alpha Bangura and Anthony Glover each tried to muscle it in, but ran into a wall of UConn defenders. St. John's coach Mike Jarvis wanted a foul on Bangura's attempt, but didn't get it.

St. John's had the last touch on Glover's ball as it was batted off the court with 1.9 seconds remaining. UConn inbounded and ran out the clock for the win.

Jarvis said he liked what he saw from his young squad. The Red Storm start three freshmen, including Cook, who had 15 assists and Shaw, a reedy 3-point specialist. Shaw led St. John's with 25 points.

"I don't believe in moral victories any more than my players do, but I do believe in improvement," Jarvis said. "I see guys being less and less selfish. I'm starting to enjoy watching our guys play."

Johnnie Selvie led UConn with 26 points to match a career-high and, except for Butler's 3-pointer, had one of the more memorable shots of the game. As defenders blanketed him with 2:46 left in regulation, Selvie threw up an over-the-shoulder no-look desperation shot just as the shot clock ran out to give UConn a 70-67 lead.

"I swear to God, I knew it was going in because I had rotation and everything. Somebody yelled, 'Shoot the ball, John,' " Selvie said.

Butler finished with 15 and freshman point guard Taliek Brown had a career-high 12 assists.

Brown was looking for a little redemption since the Boston College loss.

"I felt it was my fault because I didn't lead the team the way I should. I spoke to coach and he said the ball is mine," Brown said. "He just put the ball in my hands and said lead the team."

St. John's had the ball and a 74-72 lead with 18.9 seconds left in regulation but UConn had three fouls to give. Three fouls later, Cook got to the line twice and hit just one free throw. UConn brought the ball up the court with 8.2 seconds left in regulation setting the stage for Butler's 3-pointer.

"The one guy I didn't want to see with the ball at the end was him," Jarvis said. "If it was anyone else I think we might have won."

Butler and Edmund Saunders led UConn with eight rebounds apiece, as the Huskies won the battle of the boards 40-34. Bangura finished with 18 points for the Red Storm.

Shaw's six 3-pointers were a career high.

"He's incredible ... the thin man," Jarvis said of the 6-foot-6 185-pounder. "He's probably the least heralded out of all the freshmen playing in the Big East and might be the one that's playing as good as anybody ... expect for maybe Caron Butler."

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

St Johns Clubhouse

Connecticut Clubhouse