No. 13 St. John’s Red Storm Stymies No. 6 UConn Huskies To Repeat As Big East Champions
St. John’s dismantled the UConn Huskies 72-52 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, winning the Big East Tournament championship for the second straight year, a program first, and doing it in a way that left no doubt who the best team in the conference really is. The confetti hadn’t even finished falling before fans were already chanting the name of the man who made it all possible.
“Zuuuuby.”
Zuby Ejiofor Delivered a Performance That Madison Square Garden Won’t Forget
Tears streamed down Zuby Ejiofor’s face as he walked off the Garden floor for the last time as a college player. That’s what winning does to you. The Big East Player of the Year finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots.
He waved his hands to fire up a crowd that was already losing its mind. He hit a three-pointer when St. John’s needed a bucket. He blocked shots with the kind of casual authority that makes opposing coaches stare at their clipboards and sigh. When UConn tried to make a run, it was Ejiofor who personally slammed the door shut.
And when Rick Pitino finally pulled him from the game in the final minute, the whole building stood up. Every single person in Madison Square Garden knew they were watching something special.
St. John’s Started Fast and Never Looked Back
This team has a habit of punching first, and they did it again on Saturday. St. John’s opened with a 10-0 run. Just like against Providence in the quarterfinals, when they scored the first nine. Just like against Seton Hall in the semis, when they rattled off the first eight. The Red Storm walked into every game this week and immediately made clear they had no interest in making things close.
Oziyah Sellers poured in 8 points in the opening five minutes. Bryce Hopkins finished with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, playing like a man who had been personally offended by the Huskies’ very existence. Dillon Mitchell, cool and efficient as ever, added 9 points, 9 rebounds, and a windmill dunk off a Dylan Darling lob that had 18,000 people completely unglued.
By halftime, St. John’s led 40-27. They’d forced 11 turnovers, turned those into 15 points, held UConn to 36% shooting, and drew three charging fouls. The Huskies looked like a team playing in a phone booth.
UConn Tried, But St. John’s Tried Harder
Give the Huskies credit. They came out of the locker room with something to prove. Tarris Reed Jr. got going, Braylon Mullins started finding space, and UConn assembled a 13-2 run to cut the lead to seven with just over 12 minutes left.
The Garden got a little tense. The UConn fans in the building started to find their voices. And then Ejiofor happened.
A three-pointer. A hook shot. A block on Silas Demary Jr. that launched a fastbreak ending with Mitchell’s windmill slam. Just like that, the lead was back to 13, the Garden was deafening, and the Huskies were done. UConn missed nine straight field goal attempts down the stretch and failed to score from the field in the final eight minutes of the game. They finished 1-of-15 in their last shooting sequence of the night.
Dan Hurley, who had already picked up an early technical foul after an animated exchange with officials, kept his composure on the sideline. His team did not.
This Win Means More Than People Realize
Remember Feb. 25? That 72-40 massacre in Hartford, when St. John’s shot 20% from the floor and missed their last 24 field goal attempts? When Hurley said afterward, “I thought we demoralized them a little bit,”
St. John’s took that loss and won every single game after it. They ended the regular season as outright Big East champions, came to New York as the No. 1 seed, and then methodically took apart every team that stood in their way, including the team that embarrassed them three weeks earlier, by 20 points, in front of a sellout crowd at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Pitino has now guided this program to back-to-back Big East Tournament titles, back-to-back outright regular season championships, and a level of sustained success that St. John’s fans hadn’t experienced in decades. The man showed up to the Garden on Friday night in a coat so large that his own son roasted him on social media, and he still walked away with a championship trophy. Some guys just have it.
What Comes Next For St. John’s
With the automatic bid secured and a 20-point championship game win on their résumé, the Red Storm should have some leverage when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday. St. John’s enters at 28-6, and while early projections had them as a No. 4 or No. 5 seed, this performance could nudge them up.
Darling, the quietly underrated point guard from Idaho State who barely gets mentioned in the national conversation, knocked down the key buckets during a closing 13-0 run and finished with 8 points, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers.
This St. John’s team is not a feel-good story. They are not a pleasant surprise. They are one of the best programs in college basketball right now, playing their best basketball at exactly the right time, and they are coming for more.
