No. 18 St John’s Narrowly Defeats Seton Hall to Clinch Share of Big East Regular Season Title

Jacob Perrine
St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) blocks a shot by Seton Hall Pirates center Najai Hines (25) during the second half.

Red Storm fans can now party like it’s 1986, as No. 18 St John’s pulled out a close 72-65 win over their bitter rivals in the Seton Hall Pirates on the road to secure the number one seed in the Big East tournament as well as a share of the Big East regular season title for the second straight year. This was the Red Storm’s first time repeating as regular-season champs since 1985-86.

Zuby Ejofor Leads St John’s to Gritty Win in Newark

In what has been the norm for the Red Storm all season, it was Zuby Ejofor who once again showed out to help St John’s pull off the tough road win tonight. Ejofor would score a game-high 21 points while also adding in 3 blocks in a performance that, in likelihood, secured Ejofor the Big East Player of the Year award this season. Ejofor has been on a tear over these final three games for St John’s, as he also notched the program’s fifth-ever triple-double in the Red Storm’s win against Villanova last Saturday.

St John’s was rolling on offense in tonight’s win against Seton Hall, as the Red Storm shot an impressive 50% from the field for the game, a highly efficient night that rarely occurs in rivalry games in college basketball. The Red Storm would also play outstanding defense down the stretch to help secure the victory, as they held Seton Hall to just 41% from the field and 9% from the three-point line tonight.

While it was the Zuby Ejofor show on offense, the Red Storm also received some key contributions in the win. Those contributions came from Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins, who both gave St John’s a boost in a variety of different ways. Hopkins would score 11 points and grab 11 rebounds, while Mitchell would post an all-around gem with 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in the win.

Seton Hall Comeback Attempt Falls Short

Although the Pirates had a less-than-stellar night on offense, they were still able to give St John’s a good fight until the buzzer. Seton Hall would fall behind by as much as 11 with 4 minutes left in the second half and would subsequently cut the Red Storm’s lead down to just 3 with 47 seconds left. From that point on St John’s would not miss a single free-throw in the clutch, as they went 4 for 4 from the stripe to effectively seal the game.

In a game as low-scoring as this one, there weren’t too many players who starred for the Pirates on offense tonight. The only players to produce a solid outing for Seton Hall were both Adam Clark and Najai Hines. Clark would score a team-high 15 points and hand out 3 assists, while Hines dropped 11 points on a perfect 4 for 4 shooting from the field in the loss.

The biggest problem on offense for the Pirates was the inefficient outing from their team leader in A.J. Staton-McCray, who would struggle to find his shot in the loss. Straton-McCray would score 11 points while shooting just 4 for 17 from the floor in the game. This latest poor shooting performance marked the second-straight game that Straton-McCray would shoot under 40%.

St John’s Completes Impressive Mid-Season Turnaround

Prior to the start of Big East play, the non-conference schedule was not a kind one for St John’s as they finished with just an 8-4 record, with 3 of those 4 losses coming against top-25 opponents. Since the start of January, it’s been a completely different story for the Red Storm, as they rattled off 13 straight wins over the next two months to improve their overall record to 22-5, with a signature win against the then No. 3-ranked UConn Huskies included in that streak.

However, if with securing a share of the Big East regular season crown and the number one seed in the conference tournament, the Red Storm’s chances at snatching a top 4 seed are currently low. According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest update to his March Madness bracketology, the Red Storm are currently projected as a 5 seed in the big dance. However, if the Red Storm can win the Big East tournament championship next week, a potential top-3 seed in March Madness is all but theirs for the taking.