For the first time in 25 years, No. 6 St. John’s will play for the Big East Tournament championship.
Thanks to a gritty 79-63 win over No. 25 Marquette at Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm will take on the winner of Creighton vs. Connecticut for the tournament title.
Zuby Ejiofor led the Johnnies with 33 points and nine rebounds, producing the highest-scoring conference semifinals performance since “Cardiac” Kemba Walker had 35 in 2011. His total also set a new record for the most points ever scored by a Red Storm player in the Big East Tournament, surpassing Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Malik Sealy and Christian Jones’ 29.
“I just want to thank my coaching staff and my teammates for putting me in a position to be successful,” Ejiofor said postgame. “It’s been a crazy ride. We want to be in this moment.”
However, St. John’s most triumphant achievement in years almost never was. In a gut punch that could’ve been heard out in the Hamptons, Rick Pitino and company fell behind 15 points early. With an evidently tight Red Storm lineup and Marquette guard Kam Jones scoring at will, heartbreak loomed.
Courtesy of Jones connecting on virtually everything —inside and outside the perimeter — the Golden Eagles appeared primed to avenge their winless regular-season series against the Johnnies.
Call it fate, destiny or karma, but St. John’s had come too far to have their conference tournament run end in such brutal fashion. And, as has been the case in five separate contests this season, it was time to mount a comeback.
Behind Kadary Richmond’s brilliant court vision and Aaron Scott’s relentless effort on loose balls, the Red Storm ignited a game-changing 17-5 run. When Deivon Smith sank a corner three-pointer to knot the score at 31, the matchup finally became the tightly-contested Big East battle fans anticipated.
Or so it seemed.
Despite trailing by two through 20 minutes of play, a second-half onslaught was on the horizon.
“There’s no panic in this stock market,” Pitino joked.
Ejiofor scored 23 of his 33 points after the break as St. John’s outscored Marquette 44-26 in the second half. Unable to find a reliable scorer outside of Jones, the Golden Eagles’ offense crumbled against the Red Storm’s ferocious man-to-man defense.
Even with an uncharacteristic performance from RJ Luis Jr., Ejiofor’s historic performance compensated for an otherwise inefficient team shooting effort.
“I’ve been so blessed to have such nice young men that I’m coaching,” Pitino said. “That’s, to me, worth more than anything else. I’m very, very lucky.”
As The Garden swelled with “Let’s go Johnnies” chants, Ejiofor grinned ear to ear, knowing he had lived up to his title of team captain.
“I came out more aggressive today, and my teammates were able to find me the situations where I could be successful,” Ejiofor concluded. “I’m really proud of how we stuck it through the entire night.”
Having punched their ticket to the Big East Championship, St. John’s earned a third meeting with either Creighton or UConn at 6:30 p.m. EST tomorrow at The Garden.
To access the final box score from the St. John’s win over Marquette, click here.
