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A late 9-0 run rallied St. John’s from a two-point deficit, lifting it to a 71-65 victory over UConn Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

STAR OF THE GAME: St. John’s freshman JaKarr Sampson picked up his fourth personal foul with 12:44 remaining, but St. John’s coach Steve Lavin elected to leave him in the game. He totaled 18 points and six rebounds, and was finally whistled for his fifth with 15 ticks left.

KEY TO THE LOSS: UConn survived an anemic first half against South Florida. It couldn’t do the same Wednesday. An 8-for-34 performance in the opening period ultimately doomed the Huskies.

*The dynamic backcourt duo of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright combined to shoot 0-for-9 from the floor for zero points in the first half. Niels Giffey was 0-for-5, as well. Napier didn’t convert his first field goal — an open 3-pointer on the right wing — until 14:21 remained. He quickly canned two more, cutting the deficit to 40-36 with 11:49 left.

*Boatright, who sat for most of the second half, hit a long 3-pointer and then two free throws (his first points of the game) to give UConn its first lead, 53-51, at the 4:28 mark.

*An alley-oop from D’Angelo Harrison to Christian Jones put St. John’s ahead 24-9 with 6:17 left in the first half. UConn cut the lead to eight, but it ballooned back to 15 on a Sampson layup with 16:15 remaining.

*Chris Obekpa, the nation’s leading shotblocker, fouled out with 5:38 remaining. He left with six points and two blocks.

*St. John’s guard D’Angelo Harrison, who averages 18.3 points per contest, was held to 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting, but hit two big shots down the stretch — a 3-pointer and a short jumper — to preserve the Red Storm lead.

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For the first time all season, neither Shabazz Napier nor Ryan Boatright broke into the scoring column in the first half. As a result, UConn hit the locker room trailing St. John’s, 31-20.

Napier did not start because he violated a team rule, according to a UConn official. He checked in with 13:40 remaining in the first half and missed all four of his field goal attempts. Boatright was 0-for-5, as was Niels Giffey, who started in Napier’s place. UConn shot 8-for-34 in the half.

Omar Calhoun (13 points) and DeAndre Daniels (7) combined for all of UConn’s points.

St. John’s freshman JaKarr Sampson had 10 points and five rebounds.

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WHEN: Tonight, 7

WHERE: Madison Square Garden

RECORDS: UConn 15-5, 5-3 Big East; St. John’s 14-8, 6-4

ON THE AIR: ESPNU (Adam Amin, Tim Welsh); WTIC 1080 (Joe D’Ambrosio, Wayne Norman)

THE LINE: UConn by 1

UP NEXT: Sunday at Seton Hall, noon (SNY)

UCONN

• Shabazz Napier G 6-0 Jr..: 24 pts, 8 rebs vs. USF
• Ryan Boatright G 5-10 Soph.: 58% FG in 5 games from Dec. 7-Jan. 8; 38.6 % since
• Omar Calhoun G 6-5 Fr.: 10.7 ppg, 31 % 3-pt FG
• DeAndre Daniels F 6-8 Soph.: 6 pts, 6 rebs, 4 blocks vs. USF
• Tyler Olander F 6-9 Jr.: 16 pts vs. ND; 14 pts in 5 games since
• Enosch Wolf C 7-1 Jr.: 4 pts, 5 rebs vs. USF
• Niels Giffey F 6-7 Jr.: Made 1 of past 12 3-pt FGA
• R.J. Evans G 6-3 R-Sr.: 2 pts, 2 rebs vs. USF
• Phil Nolan F 6-9 Fr.: Has not scored in Big East play
• Leon Tolksforf F 6-8 Fr.: 3 pts vs. USF

ST. JOHN’S

• Phil Greene G 6-2 Soph.: 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio
• D’Angelo Harrison G 6-3 Soph.: 18.9 ppg
• Sir’Dominic Pointer G 6-5 Soph.: 6.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg
• JaKarr Sampson F 6-8 Fr.: 14.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
• Chris Obekpa F/C 6-8 Fr.: Leads nation with 99 blocks
• Amir Garrett F 6-6 Soph.: 6.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg
• Jamal Branch G 6-3 Soph.: Will not play (knee)

STORY LINES

BRANCH OUT: St. John’s point guard Jamal Branch, a starter in the team’s past six games, will be sidelined with a knee injury suffered Saturday versus Georgetown, according to Roger Rubin of The New York Daily News. The injury will open more playing time for Chris Obekpa, the nation’s leading shotblocker (99). UConn heavily pursued the 6-foot-9 Obekpa, who played his high school ball at Our Savior New American School in Centereach, N.Y.

NAPIER’S NUMBERS: Shabazz Napier, the Big East Player of the Week, has totaled an absurd 34 points in 24:40 of overtime this season. Per 40 minutes, he’s scoring at a Pistol Pete-rate of 55.2 points per game

LAST TRIP TO THE GARDEN: Banned from the Big East tournament, tonight’s game marks UConn’s last visit to Manhattan. “It kind of hit us that it will be our last game there this year,” Napier said. “As a freshman coming to UConn, you want to play in the Garden, it’s a beautiful thing to play in the Garden. We want to go give 110 percent because it’s our last time there this year.”

DOUBLE-DOUBLE ANYONE?: Twenty games in, not one Husky has recorded a double-double. Napier came close versus USF (24 points, eight rebounds), as did DeAndre Daniels versus New Hampshire (seven points, 10 boards) and Ryan Boatright against Fordham (26 points, nine assists).

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