On a game night against the Marquette Golden Eagles, the biggest news for No. 17 St. John’s came right before tip-off. The No. 5 UConn Huskies were upset by the Creighton Bluejays, leaving the Red Storm a chance to usurp the Huskies for the top spot in the Big East.
Suddenly, a random Wednesday night game against the 9-18 Golden Eagles became the most important 40 minutes of the season.
The Johnnies were met by a one man army in Milwaukee, Royce Parham (13 pts, 5-10 FG) of Marquette scored all but four of the Golden Eagles first 11 points. The Red Storm only led the single-cell offense 15-11 through the first 10 minutes of play.
An issue bugging Rick Pitino all season has been lineups without Zuby Ejiofor (10 pts, 6 rebs, 3-10 FG). The captain sat on the bench for seven minutes in the first half, giving Pitino a chance to experiment with lineups against a lesser opponent.
But nothing of substance came from this period of testing, even allowing a 7-0 run for Marquette who cut the lead to just two at 22-20.
After this swift sign of life from the Golden Eagles, the St. John’s second unit fought back.
During this period without Ejiofor, Dylan Darling (0 pts, 5 asts, 5 fouls) took on the mantle of leadership. In just his six first half minutes, Darling assisted on four buckets which was responsible for nine points.
Fueled by their pass-first point guard, the Red Storm rattled off a retaliatory 7-2 run that pushed their lead back to 29-22.
For the rest of the half, it was all Johnnies. Bryce Hopkins (23 pts, 10 rebs, 8-14 FG) was the leading scorer of the half, scoring 11 first half points with six of those coming in the final five minutes, while the streaky Lefteris Liotopoulos (8 pts, 3-4 FT) exploded for seven points in his five minutes of play.
The duo’s 13 points within the last five minutes of the half elevated St. John’s to a 44-35 lead at the halfway mark.
While the nine point difference between the first place and last place teams in the Big East may not be the blowout that many expected, there were some positives in the first half. Nearly all of those positives came off the bench for the Johnnies, Darling and Liotopoulos namely, as the second unit scored a whopping 21 points to Marquette’s six.
But with the starters back in to begin the second half, the tide shifted back to the Golden Eagles.
Nigel James Jr. (25 pts, 4 rebs, 11-21 FG), in an eerily similar scoring outburst to Parham, willed Marquette back into the game. His six points were over half of the 11-2 run the Golden Eagles had in the first five minutes, tying the contest at 46-46.
James continued his single-handed destruction of the Red Storm, adding another four points to his total, including an outrageous acrobatic layup that allowed Marquette to retain a 56-50 advantage.
Just as quickly as they lost their lead, a quick nine point swing across two minutes brought the Johnnies back in front. This run was capped off by Hopkins’ first three-pointer of the night, paving the way for eight straight points the Providence transfer scored himself, en route to giving his team a 64-59 difference over Marquette.
In the twilight of this contest, fatigue set in for both sides and defenses finally stepped up as offense became very limited in the final eight minutes. Both teams combined for only 15 points heading into the last minute, before disaster nearly struck St. John’s.
Entering the final 60 seconds of play, the Johnnies led by a comfortable 71-63 before an Adrien Stevens (3 pts, 1-4 3PT) three-ball was a startle but a James and-one was a full on scare to the Red Storm’s fragile lead.
As they’ve done all season, St. John’s relied on free throws to drag them out of a mess. The heroes of the night: Liotopoulos, Hopkins and Ejiofor all converted on free throws that sealed the game for the Johnnies by a final score of 76-70, despite the late comeback.
After the win over the Golden Eagles and a UConn loss on the same night, there is a new top dog in the Big East. St. John’s holds sole possession of first place within the conference, controlling their own destiny with a chance to repeat as regular season champions.
Their next stop on the road to potentially lifting the Big East trophy for a second time is a crucial one. Hot off of beating the No. 5 Huskies, the Creighton Bluejays will head to Madison Square Garden for an afternoon date with the Johnnies on Feb. 21.
For play-by-play analysis, follow @TorchSports on X.
