No. 22 St. John’s gained more ground to kickstart February, winning its eighth consecutive game in Big East conference play 68-56 at DePaul on Tuesday. That result makes them 9-4 in Quad one and Quad two games this season.
“This was a tremendous win for us because this was a very difficult game to play,” Rick Pitino said during a postgame press conference.
Zuby Ejiofor, who recorded his 1,000th career point, led the Red Storm with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. His performance enabled his team to sweep the Blue Devils, as they won the first face-off in December.
Bryce Hopkins and Oziyah Sellers combined for 28 points and 10 rebounds, keying the Red Storm to seal yet another close victory, their second straight by double digits. But the Johnnies dealt with more growing pains overall, shooting 35% (21-for-60) from the field and 30% (6-for-20) from beyond the arc.
The Johnnies managed to overcome a slow start, going 1-for-6 from the field. Bryce Hopkins, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds, got their first shot to fall at the foul line. St. John’s proceeded to miss another three shots, which was a recurring theme through the first half.
Layden Blocker scored on a layup to get DePaul into the affair. Theo Pierre-Justin followed up with a long-range shot. Ejiofor matched it with a three-pointer of his own, which gave him 1,000 career points at St. John’s.
Ejiofor kept up the pressure, making two free throws at the charity stripe. CJ Gunn of the Blue Demons responded with four points, as Joson Sanon made a mid-range shot. Fabian Flores got in on the action with a layup at the basket. Hopkins did the same not long after.
Sanon got another three points to fall, only for Blocker to one-up him with four consecutive points. Jackson returned the favor with a layup at the other end. Kruz McClure hit his first three-pointer, as Hopkins made his first triple in response.
RJ Smith and Brandon Maclin scored an additional five points for DePaul, which Sellers combated with a three-pointer. Hopkins look a layup to the rim at the end of the first half, giving St. John’s a one-point lead going into halftime.
Sellers drilled a three-pointer to get the second half underway. NJ Benson put DePaul on the board as Dillon Mitchell took a layup to the basket. Smith hit the Blue Demons’ first triple of the half before Ejiofor scored four straight points.
Sellers got another mid-range shot to fall, before neither team would score for over two minutes. Ironically, Sellers broke the stalemate by hitting another triple. His teammate, Jackson, did the same at the 11:10 mark. Not long after, Hopkins got in on the action with a layup at the rim.
The ballgame got chippy when Maclin was given a technical foul for taking a swipe at Sellers, who then received a technical foul as well. Hopkins and Blocker were both given technical fouls seconds later.
The influx of fouls allowed St. John’s to take its first double-digit lead of the game. However, Smith scored three straight points to bring DePaul back into striking distance.
Not long after, Ejiofor threw down a slam dunk, keeping the Red Storm in front. The senior big man made a hook shot at the rim before unleashing another dunk.
However, DePaul didn’t back down even though they trailed by 11. The Blue Demons cut the deficit down to five by scoring the following six points.
Hopkins kept the Johnnies in control by scoring three points, as Sellers got a layup to fall. Dylan Darling sealed the win with a pair of free throws at the buzzer.
Three-point shooting will need to be a point of emphasis during practice this week, heading into arguably their most challenging game of the season against No. 3 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
“One of the elite teams in the nation,” Pitino said of the 22-1 Huskies. “They don’t really have a weakness.”
