St. John's routs UConn, who decided not to make the trip to MSG

Last year in the Big East tournament, UConn battled for 70 minutes and six overtimes before finally succumbing to Jonny Flynn and the inexhaustible Syracuse Orange.

This year, it didn't take ten minutes for the Huskies to throw in the towel against the Johnnies, losing 73-51 in a Big East Tournament first round game that they were never in.

"Give congratulations to St. John's," Jim Calhoun said after the game. "They came out here with purpose, physicality, and quite frankly handed us our butts."

St. John's jumped out to a 12-4 lead six minutes into the game, and extended that lead to as much as 17 points before the first half was over. While I hate to steal a line from Jimmy Dykes, the difference here was "want to". St. John's came out of the gates fired up. They ran the floor harder; they gave more effort on the defensive end; they executed offensively; they got seemingly every loose ball.

"I think the second- and third-effort plays sometimes come down to winning a game," St. John's senior Malik Boothe told reporters. "And I think we did that more than they did tonight. And we got the win."

What Malik and I are getting at is that St. John's was far and away the better basketball team today.

And while a lot of that credit must go to the St. John's team and how well they played, a part of the blame falls on the shoulders of UConn.

But just how much are we talkin' here?

Calhoun wasn't the only one confused by UConn's performance today.
(photo credit: NYDN)

This is a UConn team that has three or four guys that could end up being NBA players. They've knocked off Texas, Villanova, and West Virginia this season. They came within a John Wall jumper and a couple Kemba Walker missed free throws of beating Kentucky on the same floor that St. John's beat them by 22 this afternoon.

Its not as if this team doesn't have the talent. You show me ten teams with a top three more talented than Jerome Dyson, Kemba Walker, and Sticks Robinson, and I'll show you ten teams headed for the Sweet 16.

Simply put, UConn did not come to play today. Just like they didn't come to play against South Florida in the season finale or Notre Dame last Wednesday. After falling to Louisville, UConn had three chances to play their way into the NCAA Tournament and blew all three.

(Side note: the fall of Jerome Dyson has been incredible to watch. Dyson played like he was shaving points tonight. He finished just 2-6 from the field for four points and had nine turnovers in 26 minutes. Every time he touched the ball in the second half, it was a turnover. The worst part was that he didn't seem to care. Dyson apathetic attitude and poor play down the stretch of the season may have done more than cost UConn the NCAA tournament; it may have cost him a spot in the NBA Draft.)

Maybe last night's speculation about Calhoun stepping down was correct.

If he cannot get a team this talented to care about a push towards the NCAA Tournament, or to care about making a run in the Big East Tournament, maybe he has lost his touch.

For what its worth, Calhoun flat out denied all speculation after the game. He said that he hasn't "spoken about that situation and my future in maybe eight months" with Chris Carlin and Adam Schein, who broke the story last night, and that "right now it is erroneous". Take that as you will.

The ironic part about of this entire situation is that St. John's coach Norm Roberts was the one that came into the Big East tournament with concerns regarding his future coaching status. This performance may have saved his job. This is a talented team that returns 10 juniors next year and only loses Anthony Mason. As of now, it looks like the Johnnies are on the way up.

The opposite can be said for UConn. They graduate Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, and Gavin Edwards. They've already had one recruit -- Cleveland Melvin, who was closer to a mid-major player than a Big East player as it is -- back out of their commitment. The jewel of next year's class -- Roscoe Smith -- has already expressed his doubts over his commitment.

Things have gotten so bad at UConn this season that Jim Calhoun, whose program was thrust into the national scene with a 1988 NIT title, openly questioned whether or not the Huskies would accept an NIT bid.

"I have great respect for the NIT," Calhoun said after the game, "but I think it's a good time to sit down with myself and my staff and think about what we want to do going forward. ... I want to make sure if there's a step back on the court to play a basketball game that they would be able to bring emotion, energy, and all the things you should bring to competition."

"Maybe its a good time to sit down and think about closing the curtain for this year."

Maybe he's right.