NEW YORK (AP) -- Omar Cook's stats certainly weren't impressive,
but they were the numbers of a point guard who led his team to a
big win.
The freshman had 17 points, nine assists and three big plays in
the final 1:15 Tuesday night as St. John's beat Connecticut (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today) 60-55,
the Huskies' fifth straight loss.
|  | | Omar Cook (10), who made the plays at the finish to beat UConn, and Anthony Glover celebrate St. John's 60-55 win. |
Cook was 7-for-21 from the field, including 3-for-15 from
3-point range.
"What the stats won't tell you is that the 3s he made were big
and the 3s he made set up driving and assists opportunities," St.
John's coach Mike Jarvis said.
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was quick to praise Cook.
"He's just a great basketball player," he said. "He can be
7-for-21, 3-for-15, but when the game was on the line, he made the
plays to win the game and that's what you have to do."
The Red Storm (12-7, 6-2 Big East) won for the eighth time in 10
games, and did it on a night when former coach Lou Carnesecca was
honored.
A banner with Carnesecca's name and victory total (526) was
raised to the ceiling in a halftime ceremony at Madison Square
Garden. Among those in attendance was former President Bill
Clinton.
"I reminded him we are 2-0 when he is in the house, so
hopefully, he will come back and make it 3-0," Jarvis said of
Clinton. "Louis will always be more than a basketball coach. Louie
is the best, the very best that America has to offer young people
and fans. I hope that Louis will be able to come to the Garden
many, many more nights and look up toward heaven and see his name
and fame. They don't come any better."
Connecticut, which won the earlier meeting of the teams this
season 82-80 in overtime, last lost five in a row when it dropped
the final five games of the regular season in 1996-97 and finished
18-15.
The Huskies (13-7, 2-5) dropped out of the AP Top 25 this week,
ending a run of 67 consecutive AP poll appearances, dating to the
preseason poll in 1997-98.
"We have a nine-game season left and we have to finish games
off," Calhoun said. "Over the years we have seen a lot of teams
that have not been able to finish games off and we were able to
take advantage of that. Right now, we are one of those teams."
Cook drove the lane and found Donald Emanuel alone for a dunk
with 1:15 left to give St. John's the lead for good at 56-54.
After a turnover by Connecticut, Cook again drove down the lane,
and this time he kept the ball and laid it in to give the Red Storm
a four-point lead.
Tony Robertson made one free throw for the Huskies with 16
seconds left and Emanuel missed the front end of a 1-and-1 two
seconds later, giving Connecticut a chance at a tie.
Cook came up big again when he helped strip the ball from Albert
Mouring as he was starting to shoot just beyond the 3-point line
and he fed the ball over his head to Reggie Jessie, who laid it in
with .4 seconds left for the final margin.
"I was just trying to make him go to the basket and Sharif
(Fordham) actually got the steal and I just grabbed the ball,"
Cook said.
The Red Storm were coming off a loss at Virginia Tech that saw
them shoot a season-low 36.4 percent, including 2-for-19 from
3-point range.
The long-range shooting wasn't much better against Connecticut
as St. John's missed its first 10 3-point attempts, eight by Cook.
But he made three 3s over the final 12:13 and the Red Storm
finished 3-for-19 from beyond the arc.
"I think it just comes down to confidence," Cook said. "I
really struggled early in the game shooting and really got myself
together and composed and ready for the end of the game."
Caron Butler and Mouring each had 14 points for Connecticut,
while Edmund Saunders added 12.
"We played hard enough to win but we didn't play well enough to
win," Calhoun said. "They had a kid named Cook who stepped up and
made plays and that's the way you win."
The win was the 13th in a row at Madison Square Garden over Big
East competition for the Red Storm.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Connecticut Clubhouse
St Johns Clubhouse
526-win salute: Carnesecca honored at Garden
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Reggie Jessie takes a pass and finishes the break with a jam.
avi: 873 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Alpha Bangura finishes off the alley-oop from Omar Cook.
avi: 1279 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Edmund Saunders finds Caron Butler cutting into the lane for a hoop.
avi: 720 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Sharif Fordham finishes the St. John's break with a hoop and the foul.
avi: 1048 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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