Red Storm take down Connecticut

NEW YORK -- If you're a top-10 team and have plans on visiting New York, avoid Madison Square Garden.

Dwight Hardy scored a career-high 33 points, and St. John's took command in the second half in an 89-72 victory over No. 10 Connecticut on Thursday night, the Red Storm's fourth win over a top-13 team this season at the Garden.

Hardy, who was 10 of 17 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range, was coming off a 32-point effort in a loss to UCLA on Saturday when he was 13 of 24 overall and 3 of 6 on 3s.

"I was in a zone," he said, "and when I'm in a zone, I kind of black out."

It was UConn (18-4, 6-5 Big East) that seemed to black out, especially in the second half, when it was outscored 54-41.

D.J. Kennedy matched his season high with 20 points and had 11 rebounds for St. John's (14-9, 6-5), which added Connecticut to a list that includes then-No. 13 Georgetown, then-No. 9 Notre Dame and then-No. 3 Duke, all of whom now are in the top 10. The Red Storm are 6-1 at the Garden, their second home court.

The Huskies had trouble all game with St. John's matchup zone. They rarely attacked the basket, passing the ball around the perimeter and usually settling for a rushed jumper.

Roscoe Smith scored 16 points to lead Connecticut, which shot 36.9 percent from the field (24 of 65) but more importantly allowed the Red Storm to shoot 48.4 percent (30 of 62).

Huskies guard Kemba Walker, second in the league in scoring at 23.2 points per game, had 15 points on 4-for-16 shooting, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

■ No. 23 Vanderbilt 81, Alabama 77 -- At Nashville, Tenn., Brad Tinsley hit an off-balance jumper with 17 seconds left, was fouled and added the free throw as the Commodores beat the Southeastern Conference-leading Crimson Tide.

Vanderbilt (17-6, 5-4) has won the first two games of a three-game homestand, with No. 18 Kentucky visiting Saturday, to remain knotted with three others for second in the SEC's Eastern Division.

Alabama (15-8, 7-2) came in having won five straight and 10 of 11 -- the Tide's best start in SEC play since 2001-02. But Alabama hasn't won at Memorial Gym since 1990 and couldn't finish off this one in a game that featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.

John Jenkins scored a team-high 20 points for Vanderbilt.