It was not pretty, but No. 17 St. John’s has extended its win streak to 10 games after outlasting Xavier 87-82 on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
After pulling off an impressive upset win over No. 6 UConn and jumping up in the national rankings, the Red Storm found themselves playing from behind for the second time this season against the Musketeers.
But their defense was far from perfect, as Tre Carroll had his way against the Johnnies’ frontcourt. The senior forward recorded 21 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. His efforts put the Musketeers in the lead by four with 14:14 remaining in the second half.
However, this didn’t keep St. John’s out of the ballgame, as Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, and Dylan Darling led a comeback. The trio’s combined 16 points put the Red Storm back in the lead.
But a layup from Caroll put the Musketeers ahead, only for Oziyah Sellers to send it into overtime with a put-back shot at the rim. The Johnnies took firm control during the five minutes of overtime, outscoring their rivals 9-4.
Six of those points came from Ejiofor, who led the team with 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Despite his noteworthy performance, Rick Pitino claimed the team captain “didn’t play well.”
“I don’t think he played great because he played too many minutes and got tired. I feel that he didn’t play great because he didn’t have enough gas left in the tank,” the Hall of Fame head coach said during a postgame press conference.
Three-point shooting was an issue for the Johnnies all night, going 3-for-13 from beyond the arc. Sellers, who has hit more than four threes in multiple games this season, missed three of his four attempts. Joson Sanon, who hit two clutch triples against UConn, missed both of his attempts.
With three-point shooting out of the equation, Hopkins and Darling stepped up. Hopkins had 19 points and nine rebounds, while Darling provided 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists off the bench.
“It might’ve looked like we came out lacking energy, but it wasn’t like we were taking Xavier lightly. They took us down to the buzzer at their place and to [overtime] tonight,” Darling said. “We struggled guarding them.”
It was a memorable evening for Pitino, who secured career win 904, which moves him into third place on the all-time coaching wins list. The 73-year-old head coach reached another career milestone against his eldest son, Richard Pitino, who became the head coach of Xavier last spring.
“I’m more proud of my son. He did things to really hurt our defense. He’s an extremely brilliant young coach,” Rick Pitino continued. “I come away tonight not thinking about 904, more so about my son.”
Richard helped turn the Musketeers program around, as they started the season 9-4. But two separate three-game losing streaks and back-to-back losses led them to fall down the rankings. At 12-12, Xavier has struggled in conference play, but always managed to push St. John’s to its limit.
“We were ready to play, but they were terrific. Certain teams cause matchup problems; this team does for us,” Rick Pitino added. “We came away twice in the latter stages of the game. I hope we don’t play them in the Big East tournament.”
With their win streak still intact, St. John’s will look to extend it when they face off against Providence on Saturday. This will be a key game for the Red Storm since the Friars handed them their most recent loss in January.
