The biggest regular-season game in the Big East this decade tips off Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where No. 3 UConn (22-1, 12-0 Big East) brings its 18-game winning streak into a showdown with No. 22 St. John’s (17-5, 10-1).
Our UConn vs. St. John’s prediction has the projected starting lineups, details on how to watch, and a full score forecast with analysis for this exciting Friday night showdown.
UConn vs. St. John’s Projected Lineups and Key Matchups
UConn Huskies Starting Lineup
- G Silas Demary Jr. (10.9 ppg)
- G Solo Ball (14.6 ppg)
- G Braylon Mullins (11.8 ppg)
- F Alex Karaban (13.3 ppg)
- C Tarris Reed Jr. (14.1 ppg)
St. John’s Red Storm Starting Lineup
- G Oziyah Sellers (11.2 ppg)
- G Joson Sanon (10.7 ppg)
- F Dillon Mitchell (6.1 rpg)
- F Bryce Hopkins (13.9 ppg)
- C Zuby Ejiofor (13.7 ppg)
UConn vs. St. John’s Prediction and Preview
The mighty Huskies appear poised to make another March (April?) run. They’ve won 18 straight after falling to Arizona in the middle of November, and the variety of ways for them to beat you is nothing short of elite.
UConn has been led in scoring by a different player in each of their past four, and that type of distribution of responsibilities is as good as it gets among the top teams in the nation.
They’ve got a bit of a rare structure in that their top two scorers have made just 41 of their 146 triples (28.1%) this season, instead banking on Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. to dominate inside of the arc.
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It’s working.
They limit the possession count, and that could creep up to bite them come tournament time, as that is a good way to keep an inferior opponent competitive. But, with their attacking style, they are less vulnerable to a 4-of-20 sort of crippling performance from distance than most.
St. John’s is no pushover, however, and if they can dictate tempo, this game stands to get awfully interesting. They’ve underwhelmed with a 5-4 mark after the 13-3 start, a stretch that included a no-show against these Huskies back on January 7.
They lost that game by 45 points with their top two scorers (Sa’Mya Wyatt and Brooke Moore) combining for 16 points in 53 minutes. I think we can count on more from them tonight, and their defense also performed well below average in that embarrassing first matchup.
I’d caution against reading too much into that contest a month ago: from a baseline perspective, these two teams are close … and I have them even closer than the rest of the industry.
Prediction: UConn 73, St. John’s 70
How To Watch UConn vs. St. John’s
- Date: Friday, Feb. 6, 2026
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: New York, NY
- Arena: Madison Square Garden
- TV Channel: Fox
- Radio: UConn Sports Network (WAVZ 1300 AM, others); ESPN New York 880/1050
- Live Stream: Fox Sports App, FuboTV
