STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- The word St. John's coach Mike Jarvis used to describe his team's victory over Connecticut (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) on Sunday was most appropriate considering all the pregame talk.

"It was huge," he said after the 82-77 win by his undersized team. "Not just the win was huge but overcoming the odds."

	Anthony Glover celebrates St. John's victory over UConn.

St. John's (12-2, 4-0 Big East) had no starter taller than any player on Connecticut's frontline. Still, the Red Storm came up with the game's biggest rebounds, most of them by 6-foot-6 Lavor Postell.

"We don't believe our height, or lack of it, should be a hindrance," Jarvis said. "In fact, our lack of height is an advantage as long as we stay healthy."

Only seven players played for St. John's and four of the starters went 30 minutes or more.

In his 38 minutes, Postell had 23 points, seven rebounds and four important plays during he final 40 seconds as the Red Storm won their sixth straight.

"They're a big team and they have to guard us too so it's one of those advantage-disadvantage things," Postell said.

Advantage St. John's, which is tied with Syracuse (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) for first place in the conference. The loss dropped the Huskies to 0-2 in conference home games as they lost their league opener to Notre Dame at the Hartford Civic Center.

"We have to get five players to play at the same time," Connecticut guard Khalid El-Amin said. "If not, there's a lot of losses in there."

Connecticut (12-3, 1-2) was down 57-43 with 11:34 to play when Erick Barkley of St. John's stole the ball and went in for a layup.

The Huskies kept clawing away behind El-Amin who had 12 points in the 26-14 run that had them within 71-69 with 2:22 left.

Barkley, who finished with 16 points, then scored five straight, the first three on a wide-open 3-pointer he took after falling down and regaining his feet.

"That was a big 3 by Erick," Postell said. "One of our guys always seems to come up with that big play."

A jumper by Tony Robertson had Connecticut within 76-71 with 1:11 left, but Postell then came up with big play after big play.

With the shot clock running out and 37 seconds left in the game, Bootsy Thornton took a 3-point attempt and Postell tipped the rebound back out to Barkley who was immediately fouled.

Barkley missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Postell came up with the rebound. He was fouled and made the second of two free throws.

Albert Mouring's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left had Connecticut within 78-74, but Postell made two free throws two seconds later.

Mouring hit another 3 with 4.8 seconds left to make it 80-77, but Postell again made two free throws, this time with 4.2 seconds left to close the game.

"Quickness is wonderful if you know how to control it and Lavor did," Jarvis said. "Combine that with a little bit of power and strength and jumping ability and you have Lavor."

Anthony Glover had 15 points for St. John's, and Thornton added 13.

"We have to attack the basket and use our quickness to our advantage," Jarvis said. "We have five or six guys who can handle the ball. This team is a unique collection of individuals."

El-Amin had 22 points and seven assists for the Huskies, while center Jake Voskuhl had 18 points and 16 rebounds. Mouring finished with 15 points, all on 5-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.

"They had five kids who played well together and they outplayed us," Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said. "We could not get five guys to do anything and the toughest for us is yet to come."

Connecticut finished with just a 38-36 rebound advantage, but the Huskies committed 16 turnovers.

"They played hard but we could have won this game so easy if we stayed in our attack mode," El-Amin said. "They sensed we didn't and we let them gain confidence on our home court."

Calhoun kept coming back to the final plays.

"We're still in the ball game and we can't box out on a foul shot or a big shot," he said, shaking his head.