You wanted to believe, didn't you?

You wanted to believe the Huskies would play as well as they did while beating West Virginia and Villanova a few weeks ago.

It didn't happen.

The dreadfully bad Huskies showed up Tuesday, losing to St. John's, 73-51 in the Big East Tournament first round game.

Now they're heading home after losing their sixth straight Big East Tournament game dating back to 2005.

Here's some post-game reaction:

-- Coach Jim Calhoun: The team I saw today from St. John's was terrific. The team I saw from Connecticut today was not very good at all. ... Clearly it was not the kind of performance that we would like to have had."

-- Calhoun dismissed a report that he plans to retire at the end of the season. He says he hasn't made up his mind yet.

"I still love coaching," Calhoun said.

Calhoun's contract expires in June.

-- UConn will take the next couple of days off. The Huskies have a decent shot at an NIT bid. The 32-team field will be announced Sunday night.

Calhoun is unsure if UConn will accept a bid if offered.

"I'm going to sit down, and the best thing for me to do and my staff to do is to kind of contemplate. I guess I'll have to talk to my athletic director (Jeff Hathaway). Obviously, he makes the final judgment."

Hathaway is a member of the NCAA Tournament selection committtee. The NCAA took over control of the NIT two years ago. So don't expect Hathaway to recommend rejecting a bid.

-- St. John's coach Norm Roberts on his inspired team's play: "What they're doing right now is they're playing not only hard but they're playing with their hearts."

-- Senior Stanley Robinson on his team's poor effort: "I'm not in shock. If you don't go out on the court and give it all you've got, you're going to end up losing. We knew we should have come out harder than we did and it showed on the court."

-- Senior Gavin Edwards on his team's inconsistencies this season: "I don't think there's any way we can explain it."

-- After threatening changes after Saturday's loss at South Florida, Calhoun went with his usual starting lineup: sophomore Kemba Walker, senior Jerome Dyson, Robinson, freshman Ater Majok and freshman Alex Oriakhi.

-- Don't think anyone has ever played a worst game in a UConn uniform than Dyson who had a career-high nine turnovers and a season-low tying four points. He didn't start the second half, sitting the first six minutes.

-- The Huskies made 20 turnovers and converted 21 field goals.

-- UConn made only 6-of-18 free throws. St. John's hit 7-of-13 3-pointers.