St. John’s 71, Connecticut 65: Freshman JaKarr Sampson scored 18 points and the Red Storm put together a late run after blowing a 15-point lead in the second half to edge the visiting Huskies.

Sampson had a basket and D’Angelo Harrison drained a big 3-pointer as St. John’s (15-8, 7-4 Big East) scored nine straight points to turn a two-point deficit into a 60-53 lead with 2:29 left. Marco Bourgault and Harrison both made two free throws to seal it late and each finished with 11 points for the Red Storm.

Freshman Omar Calhoun scored 21 points and Shabazz Napier had 14 – all in the second half – for Connecticut (15-6, 5-4). DeAndre Daniels added 12 points for the Huskies, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

Sampson had 10 points as St. John’s led by as many as 15 in the first half before settling for a 31-20 lead at intermission. Connecticut’s leading scorers, Napier and Ryan Boatright, combined to miss all 10 of their shots in the opening 20 minutes, but Calhoun registered 13 points to keep the Huskies in it.

Napier made his first field goal with 14:20 left, the first of his three 3-pointers during a 15-1 run that pulled UConn within a point. The Huskies took their first and only lead 53-51 on a pair of Boatright free throws with 4:30 remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Napier did not start the game due to a minor violation of team rules. Niels Giffey took his place in the lineup, recording nine points and 10 rebounds. … St. John’s G Jamal Branch missed the game with a MCL sprain. Branch is averaging 8.3 points. … St. John’s F Chris Obekpa had two blocks, giving him 101 for the season.