The Huskies and the Red Storm will battle at MSG on Friday night.
The University of Connecticut men's basketball team will get a real conference test on Friday night when they travel to Big East rival St. John's for a marquee matchup at Madison Square Garden.
Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET and the game will air nationally on FOX.
The Huskies are 22-1 overall and 12-0 inside conference play while the Red Storm are 17-5 and 10-1 within the league.
As noted by UConn Athletics:
Friday night is the first time two BIG EAST teams have met in February both having zero or one loss in league play since 2/2/09, when 9-1 Connecticut topped 8-0 Louisville by a score of 68-51.
Here's what you need to know.
Who is the favorite?
According to Fanduel, the Huskies are favored by 2.5 points. Despite being the betting favorite, ESPN's matchup predictor gives St. John's a 52 percent chance of winning.
Who are the broadcasters?
Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and Allison Williams.
About St. John's
Coached by Rick Pitino, the Red Storm have experienced a resurgence under his leadership. They won the Big East a season ago, going 18-2 in the league and capturing the conference tournament title.
They earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but lost to No. 10 Arkansas in the second round.
This season, the only losses for his group are against other power conference teams: A 103-96 loss against Alabama, an 85-74 loss against Auburn, an 83-82 loss against Iowa State, a 78-66 loss against Kentucky and a 77-71 loss against Providence.
They have now won eight consecutive games, including good wins against Villanova on the road and vs. Seton Hall at home.
Zuby Ejiofor leads the way with 15.7 ppg and 7.5 rebounds. The Red Storm average 84.6 ppg and shoot 35.5 percent from three-point range.
Also on campus
--The No. 1 ranked UConn women will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at noon ET against Butler. The game will be played in Hartford, Conn.
--It's the two-month anniversary of the hiring of UConn football coach Jason Candle, who took over for the recently-departed Jim Mora Jr. Our own Jami Leabow took a look at what he's been up to in that time. The Huskies went 9-4 this past season, losing in the Fenway Bowl against Army. They are expected to be solid again in 2026, though the roster will be completely different than it was in 2025. There are 71 new players.
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