College basketball delivered another solid showcase matchup on Friday night when a raucous Madison Square Garden hosted No. 22 St. John’s battle with No. 3 UConn.

Circled on the calendar of college hoops fans all season, the Big East slugfest between two preseason top-five teams gave St. John’s a critical 81-72 victory — its most important win of the season. The Red Storm entered the 2025-26 season with national championship expectations. A sluggish 9-5 start, including a surprising Big East loss to Providence, derailed any early talk of titles.

Things have turned around for Rick Pitino’s team over the last several weeks. With a month left in the regular season, St. John’s is hovering closer to preseason standards. Nine consecutive wins puts the Red Storm in Big East title contention while vaulting them up the national rankings. Perhaps most importantly, the UConn win is the second Red Storm victory over a likely NCAA Tournament at-large team — quieting some concerns about a light St. John’s tournament profile.

Once considered a serious contender, St. John’s saw its national title odds dip to near triple digits before its recent surge. Is the UConn win a sign of bigger things to come for the Red Storm or merely the peak of a roller coaster first three months?

Balance gives St. John’s a consistent backbone

Last season saw St. John’s win the Big East on the way to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The trio of Big East Player of the Year R.J. Luis Jr., all-conference big man Zuby Ejiofor and guard Kadary Richmond was one of the most acclaimed groups in the sport.

Despite the star power, the Red Storm were ultimately upset by No. 10 seed Arkansas in the second round thanks to poor perimeter shooting and an untimely dud from Luis Jr. Finishing with only nine points on 3-for-17 shooting, a miserable shooting day from Luis Jr. — coupled with season-long 30 percent team 3-point shooting — sank a once-promising season before the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Restocking the roster through the transfer portal, St. John’s couldn’t offset Luis Jr.’s NBA departure with individual production with only one player. Instead, they’ve effectively built a roster of effective portal additions around Ejiofor’s return inside.

Former Big East all-conference selection Bryce Hopkins provides adequate secondary scoring and a physical prowess that wears down opposing front lines. Athletic bursts from well-traveled former five-star forward Dillon Mitchell punctuates the frontcourt trio, with Mitchell’s defensive versatility adding to the group’s physicality.

The unconventional backcourt quartet of Ian Jackson, Oziyah Sellers, Joson Sanon and Dylan Darling all provide unique attributes that are beginning to click. Sellers and Jackson are starters and double-figure scorers. Sanon’s perimeter shooting prowess and Darling’s true point-guard abilities provide helpful minutes off the bench.

Although question marks remain about the lack of a true point guard in the starting lineup against elite teams, St. John’s is sharing the ball effectively and relying on the sum of all parts. Six different players have led a game in scoring this season and seven different players paced the Red Storm in assists for a matchup. Even if a main player is having an off-shooting game, there’s plenty of options to step up in the scoring column, something St. John’s lacked during last season’s upset against Arkansas.

With a top-25 offense and defense nationally, according to KenPom, the Red Storm boast a solid metric profile coupled with multiple capable scorers.

Improved perimeter shooting makes St. John’s more dangerous

A glaring weakness for St. John’s last season was the team’s horrendous 30 percent mark from 3-point range. There are still flaws with the retooled Red Storm roster. Perimeter shooting has noticeably come a long way since last season.

Up to a respectable 35 percent 3-point shooting as a team on the season, the Red Storm roster features significantly more perimeter shooting options than the previous season. After the UConn win, all four of Darling, Jackson, Sanon and Sellers are at or above 36 percent from 3-point range for the season.

Ejiofor also worked on his shooting range this offseason to improve to a respectable 33 percent from 3 on his limited looks — a noticeable improvement from 22 percent a season ago. Hopkins can also knock down tough perimeter looks despite only hitting 30 percent so far this season.

Nobody is mistaking St. John’s for an elite shooting outfit. But an elite defensive team boasting multiple capable perimeter shooters is a recipe for a dangerous matchup in March.

St. John’s still has work to do to become a true contender

One of the hottest teams in the country, St. John’s still has work to do to improve its underwhelming NCAA Tournament profile. Winning nine games in a row is a positive start for the Red Storm’s long-term outlook.

But a road win at Villanova and Friday night’s home win against UConn are the only two tournament-quality wins for St. John’s all season. And, thanks to a down year in the Big East, St. John’s only gets two more guaranteed regular season matchups against tournament-caliber teams before the postseason.

Already hovering near the 5- or 6-seed line in many Bracketology projections, any unexpected loss not coming to UConn or Villanova could quickly derail momentum for St. John’s. In a season where the top 10 teams are all loaded with high-end talent, there’s little room for error for a team like the Red Storm during the rest of the regular season.

If St. John’s is to make a deep run in March, it will likely come from a seed outside of the top three. Unless significant help comes in the form of multiple top-ten teams freefalling down the standings, the Red Storm lack the quality wins (and opportunity for quality wins) of other teams competing for strong seeding.

The good news? Rick Pitino teams have a reputation for getting stronger during the season. The win over UConn doesn’t define St. John’s as a true title contender after its rocky start just yet. It was also the first time all season St. John’s finally started living up to its lofty preseason billing.