Uconn Sneaks Peek At No. 1

Ray Allen overcame a horrible first half to score 27 points and lead No. 6 Connecticut past St. John’s 98-78 on Sunday in Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies (3-0 Big East, 10-0) took command about 6 minutes in with their pressure defense and fast break, solidifying their claim to a shot at the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll.

One of only two unbeaten Division I teams (Clemson is the other), Connecticut should move up in the rankings because Nos. 1-3 (North Carolina, UCLA and Arkansas) lost last week. Nos. 4-5 (Massachusetts and Kansas) already had lost.

Allen hit just 2 of 10 from the field in the first half as UConn took a 43-32 lead over St. John’s (2-1, 8-2). He quickly ended the shooting woes by scoring six points in the Huskies’ 11-2 run to open the second half.

He scored on a spin move off the opening inbounds pass, tipped in his own miss for another basket and capped the run with his first 3-pointer of the game in four attempts.

He took over later, scoring all of Connecticut’s points in a 10-2 run that made it 79-52 with 9:16 to play. Allen finished 11 for 26.

Chaney shows old form

Temple coach John Chaney is back at it. The man who threatened to kill UMass coach John Calipari at a press conference last season staged a sit-in Tuesday during a 70-57 win over St. Bonaventure. Chaney became so frustrated with center William Cunningham that he sat on the floor in front of his bench at McGonigle Hall. He struck an unusual pose, propping his elbows on the knees of two reserves, after Cunningham was stripped of a ball he should have dunked.

“I really wanted to go home,” said Chaney, who found his picture on the sports cover of the Philadelphia Daily News the next morning, next to the caption “Sit Fit.”

Turning up the heat

Expect Syracuse to pull out all the stops in the recruitment of guard Wayne Turner of Roxbury, Mass., now that point guard Stephon Marbury has announced he will attend Georgia Tech. Turner, who says he still is considering UConn, Providence, Syracuse, UMass and Michigan, becomes a virtual necessity for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.