Zuby Ejiofor’s monster night pushes St. John’s men’s basketball to first Big East title game since 2000

Ejiofor scored a career-best 33 points as the Johnnies reversed a big first half deficit and crushed the Golden Eagles

The vociferous Madison Square Garden fell to a hush. Marquette ambushed St. John’s to take a considerable 24-9 lead with 12:42 left in the first half. Kam Jones retained his white-hot shooting touch early on Friday night, scoring 13 of the Golden Eagles’ first two dozen points.

But you know the story of these never-say-die Johnnies. The same, battle-tested ones to come back from six previous games when they trailed by double-digit deficits and find a way to seize victory.

They not only made Friday night’s Big East tournament their seventh such game of the season, but they rolled over Marquette in a 79-63 mauling to claim a spot in the Big East Tournament championship for the first time since 2000 on the back of an unforgettable night from their star center.

Days removed from his shocking buzzer-beater to knock off Marquette in St. John’s regular season finale, Zuby Ejiofor stole the show versus the Golden Eagles again, scoring a career-high 33 points and pulling down nine rebounds.

“I have been coaching for fifty years, there are very few Zubys to come along,” Rick Pitino said of his All-Big East center in Friday night’s postgame press conference.

The big man played an integral role in changing momentum in favor of the Red Storm and pushing the game out of reach, scoring 23 of his points in the second half alone and leading the charge for a 22-12 second half run. As a co-captain, he continuously motivated his team during timeouts, whether they were trailing by fifteen or leading by fifteen.

“Every coach wants to have a player like [Zuby Ejiofor]”, Rick Pitino said of Ejiofor in Friday night’s postgame press conference, “Selfless, just cares about the team, you get blessed with guys like him.”

Ejiofor had some help from his teammates. Aaron Scott gritted through a thumb injury to score eight of his 11 points after halftime, including a pair of early threes to set the tone for a dominant St. John’s second half.

Kadary Richmond recorded another double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds, and dictated play on both ends with six assists and three steals. Both Scott and Richmond played instrumental roles in holding Marquette to a bone-dry 34.5% shooting in the second half.

The St. John’s Red Storm (29-4) await either the 2-seeded Creighton Bluejays or 3-seeded Connecticut Huskies in the Big East Tournament championship game (6:30 p.m., FOX).