No. 14 St. John’s may have been dealt a bad hand in the final round of the Las Vegas Player’s Era Championship. Just hours after their dominant win over Baylor, the Johnnies’ final matchup of the mid-week showcase was announced to be the No. 21 Auburn Tigers, a team that reached the Final-Four in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Auburn entered this contest facing an early season identity crisis, caused by the retirement of legendary Head Coach Bruce Pearl and a 30-point blowout loss to No. 7 Michigan.
This star-studded, box office matchup began with a much sloppier start than expected. Both teams combined for 10 turnovers at the midway point in the first half while many players picked up early fouls, including Auburn’s KeShawn Murphy (9 pts, 6 rebs) who committed three fouls early in this contest.
In an intense physical duel, the Tigers and Johnnies leaned on their stars to carry them offensively. It was Tahaad Pettiford (27 pts, 10-19 FG) for Auburn that was responsible for 13 points, scoring nine and assisting on two baskets that helped the Tigers lead by as much as seven, at 21-14.
But Zuby Ejiofor (24 pts, 11-13 FT, 6 rebs) finally broke through the shackles of his early season struggles. He single-handedly kept the Red Storm afloat in the first half with his 17 points, making up for a St. John’s offense that shot sub-40 percent from the field.
Another experienced Johnnie, Sadiku Ibine Ayo (7 pts, 2 stls), and a new face, Ian Jackson (7 pts, 3 TOs), both stepped up in the final moments of the first half by supplying Ejiofor some scoring help. A circus shot layup from Ibine Ayo, followed by a Jackson and-one that fueled an 11-2 St. John’s scoring run that ended the first half.
By a score of 39-30, the Red Storm were on top in a scrappy, low-scoring affair.
Both sides started the second half with their focus lying beyond-the-arc with Keyshawn Hall (20 pts, 8 rebs) and Kevin Overton (12 pts, 5 asts) of Auburn knocking down threes in the first minutes of the half. This pair of triples were a part of a Tigers scoring run that brought them within three points of St. John’s 44-41 lead.
But Joson Sanon (16 pts, 4-7 3PT) reminded the nation of his three-point shooting prowess, nailing three threes and extending their lead to 59-53. After creating a more sizable and comfortable gap, the Red Storm proceeded to collapse for the final 10 minutes of this game.
Auburn completely flipped the script on the Johnnies, eventually evening the scoring up at 61-all. The duo of Pettiford and Hall continued to torch St. John’s, snapping off a scoring run of a combined 19 points as the Tigers controlled a 76-70 lead with three minutes remaining.
The Johnnies offense then stalled for a full two minutes, up until KeShawn Murphy hit the silencer. His three-point shot rattled home with two minutes left in the game, extending the Tigers’ lead to 79-70, a dagger that St. John’s couldn’t recover from.The game ended at an 85-74 final score.
Another early season loss against a Quad-1 opponent signals some major red flags for the reigning Big East champion’s ability to perform in big games. St. John’s were outscored 44-30 in the paint despite Ejiofor scoring 24 points, out hustled in transition as Auburn scored 18 points on the fast break to the Red Storm’s five and out-shot from three-point land: 43 percent to 28 percent.
All these problems may stem from a lack of chemistry between new teammates on a completely revamped roster. Or the Johnnies’ struggles could be attributed to mounting pressure to perform well after such a successful 2024-2025 campaign.
St. John’s will hope to iron out these issues quickly and forget about a disappointing trip to Vegas, as they will face another SEC opponent in the Ole Miss Rebels at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 6.
