New York – After suffering three consecutive painful Big East tournament semifinal losses, UConn finally broke through the barrier on Friday.

To do it, the top-seeded Huskies had to survive a wild, sometimes chaotic, high-scoring game before a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd.

They outlasted fifth-seeded St. John’s, 95-90, to advance to Saturday night’s tournament title game for the first time since 2011.

“Awesome atmosphere,” coach Dan Hurley said. “Thought it lived up to everything that people hoped for with this game tonight, the emotions, the intensity, the shot making. It was a fun game to be a part of. … Thrilled to get the win and excited to get to the championship.”

UConn will play defending champion Marquette, a 79-68 semifinal winner over Providence Friday, Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

It will be the first Big East final for the Huskies (30-3) in Hurley’s six seasons in Storrs. They lost the previous three semifinal trips by a combined eight points.

Veteran guards Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer led the charge.

Newton scored a team-high 25 points, including 20 in the first half, and also had nine assists and six rebounds while Spencer chipped in 20 points, four rebounds and a career-high nine assists.

“As a competitor, these are the environments that you want to play in,” Spencer said. “It’s a high level basketball game. We’re working towards something that we’ve worked for all year. The Big East championship is something that we want to go get.”

UConn showed off its potent offensive game, sinking 57.4 percent from the field, a day after setting a program record for a Big East tournament game by shooting 58.3 percent. They finished 22 of 24 from the foul line and 11 for 22 from the 3-point line

Still, the Huskies barely held on down the stretch.

Their 14-point lead dipped to single digits.

But each time, the Huskies answered with huge baskets.

Up seven, Spencer grabbed an offensive rebound to keep a possession alive and then buried a 3-pointer for an 81-71 lead with 5:41 remaining.

Then, with a 91-85 lead, they closed out the game from the foul line, as Spencer and reserve Hassan Diarra each converted two in the final 20 seconds.

The game resembled an amusement ride, filled with twists and turns. They allowed a season-high for points.

It was the highest scoring semifinal game in Big East tournament history with 185 combined points.

“It was hectic,” said redshirt sophomore Alex Karaban, who had 14 points. “We have to be way better defensively, and that’s something that we look forward to doing (Saturday) is playing way better on the defensive end. But, it just shows we can win any type of game, whether it’s fast-paced or grind it out, whatever game it is.

“That’s what makes our team so special, that we can win in a variety of ways.”

Diarra (10 points) and Jaylin Stewart (eight) came off the bench and kept the Huskies afloat when their teammates battled foul trouble.

Early in the second half, UConn went on a momentum-turning 13-2 run. Spencer had his fingerprints all over it. He jump-started the spurt by sinking a 3-pointer and throwing a lob to Samson Johnson for a dunk.

Newton’s nifty reverse layup increased the gap to 10. Spencer fed a wide open Karaban, who buried a 3-pointer, and then grabbed an offensive rebound and found Johnson for an inside basket.

UConn carried a 69-56 lead into a timeout with 13:48 remaining. The Huskies still had work to do.

The Huskies cooled off the Red Storm (20-13), who came into the game riding a six-game winning streak. Daniss Jenkins had 27 points for St. John’s.

There was a big game buzz from the start. Fans began roaring during introductions.

And, as the game progressed, the competitive temperature rose on the court.

With 8:16 left in the first half, the game neared a boiling point. St. John’s coach Rick Pitino earned a technical foul after barking at the officials about a foul called on Joel Soriano.

Then seconds later, Hurley received one. He complained about a fan near the UConn bench

“The place was in a frenzy when coach (Pitino) got his,” Hurley said. “There was a short guy in a red blazer that was on the court yelling at the refs, and then he started yelling at me and moving in my direction.

“So I was just pointing out to (referee) James (Breeding) that (the fan) was behaving worse than coach Pitino. I was really just trying to help the officials.”

Now it’s on to the finals.

UConn lost to Marquette, 70-68, in last year’s semifinals. The third-seeded Golden Eagles (25-8) have played the last five games without starting point guard Tyler Kolek (oblique injury), whose status is unknown for Saturday.

“Tomorrow night is going to be a heck of a challenge,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “We played UConn twice and came up short both times. We played them the second time without Tyler.”

With a win, UConn can tie Georgetown for the most Big East titles in league history with eight.

“It’s special,” said Karaban of playing for the championship. “We’ve had this goal on the top of our minds since June and for the returners, since we lost to Marquette (in the 2023 semifinals), that stung us. We just have to continue to work towards it.

“To have the opportunity to cut down nets is special. Just doing that in general, just having a chance to see the confetti fall for UConn, that’s something that we want to achieve and add history to this program.”

g.keefe@theday.com