St. John's shows it has the makings of a Big East championship team in win at UConn

St. John’s beat UConn 68-62 at Gampel Pavilion .

The game was supposed to reanimate the two -time defending national champions.

The Red Storm now sits alone atop the Big East standings at 21-3 overall and 12 -1 in the league.

The last time Pitino brought a team to a game with this much anticipation surrounding the matchup was Jan. 29, 2011 .

St. John’s overcame ghastly performances from the free-throw line ( 17 -for-31, 54.8% ) and the 3 -point line.

The Red Storm overcame a 14 -point first-half hole with a barrage of mid-range jumpers from Luis Luis Luis , who made 10 of 10 of his attempts from the field for 21 points.

The win will launch the Red Storm toward their highest ranking of the 21st century when new polls are released next week .

A missed layup from McNeeley with three seconds remaining ultimately sealed the Huskies ’ fate.

The celebration kicked into high gear as St. John’s assistant coach Taliek Brown began thumping chests with seemingly every player who walked off the court.

It was a painful scene for the handful of UConn greats seated just a few feet away.