Big East Basketball power rankings: Villanova drops lower, St. John’s rises

4. UConn Huskies – 15-4 (4-4)

The Huskies started last week with another road game in Big East Basketball play, this time at Marquette. It was a close game but in the end, the Golden Eagles had enough offense to hold on for the 82-76 victory. Donovan Clingan led all scorers in the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and outplaying starter Adama Sanogo, who had just 10 points and turned it over five times. Forward Alex Karaban produced 17 points and seven rebounds.

If you’re a supporter of UConn, you could hang your hat on the fact that the schedule was frontloaded with road games against the top teams in the conference. That was a fair argument until they played a home game against the reeling St. John’s Red Storm.

The Huskies trailed early and often but despite making a couple of runs, they could never get the lead and ultimately lost, 85-74. Jordan Hawkins had a career-high 31 points, while Karaban had 16. Sanogo bounced back from the last game to have 14 points and 10 rebounds. Now, they’re four games back in the standings and unless they run the table at home in the back half of the schedule, likely are out of the title race.

There’s still plenty to play for if you’re UConn, as the schedule does ease up a bit. That being said, a road game at Seton Hall is never easy, with home games versus Butler and Xavier following.