February 25, 2026; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies forward Taris Reed Jr. (5) reacts after the second half of the game against the St. John’s Red Storm at PeoplesBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Tarris Reed Jr. and no. 6 UConn will continue its quest to win the Big East regular season championship when it visits Seton Hall on Saturday.
UConn (26-3, 16-2 Big East) clinched sole possession of first place with a stifling defensive effort in a 72-40 rout of No. 15 St. John’s on Wednesday night. The Red Storm did not score a field goal, making 11 of 56 field goals in 17 minutes and 28 seconds of the second half.
“When you have nights like this, it starts to snowball,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “Obviously we played really good defense against them, and I thought it took their morale down a little bit when the score went the way it did. And I think it was one of those nights where everything was good for us and everything was wrong for them. But we did a lot of work to make that happen.”
The win puts the Huskies ahead of St. Louis atop the Big East standings. We’re a half game ahead of St. John’s. UConn plays Seton Hall (19-9, 9-8) on Saturday before wrapping up the regular season with a game at Marquette on March 7.
Reed is from St. Was a star against St. John’s. He finished the game with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added 11 rebounds, six blocks, three assists and two steals.
“(The) performance was as good as any center has played for us in the game,” Hurley said. “The great thing about Tarris is that he can repeat that. And if he repeats that, we won’t have more losses the rest of the game. And what he was doing is repeatable. He wasn’t hitting dream-shaking shots like fadeaways. He was just a guy who had a presence at the rim as a deterrent. And his ball screen defense and rebounding, post position and trap outs — if he did that, this team would get a big break. That way.”
Seton Hall ranks last in the Big East in scoring (70.4 points per game) and 3-point field goal percentage (30.3%). Adam Clark is averaging a team-high 12.5 points.
Defense was Seton Hall’s strength. The Pirates have held opponents to fewer than 70 points in 22 of 28 games. Seton Hall has allowed 65 points or fewer in 14 games.
“Our defense is part of our identity,” forward Najai Hines said.
Despite missing all 18 of its 3-point attempts, Seton Hall beat Georgetown 51-47 on Saturday, the last time the Pirates played.
“We dug deep,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “We made plays when we needed to. We found a way to win the game. We need the rest.”
Reed had 21 points in UConn’s 69-64 win at Seton Hall on Jan. 13.
In the second half, the Huskies led by 18 points. With 48 seconds left, Seton Hall pulled within one point on Mike Williams’ 3-pointer.
The Huskies didn’t make a field goal over the final 5 minutes and 40 seconds of the game, but Silas Demery Jr. hit four free throws in the final 29 seconds to give them some breathing room.
–Field level media
