One more game.
St. John’s is on the verge of making program history, looking to capture back-to-back Big East Conference tournament titles for the first time ever.
Seton Hall was the only thing standing in the way, a team that provided some challenge through their two regular season matchups, which the Red Storm scraped by with victories. The Pirates’ toughness wasn’t enough to overcome Rick Pitino’s mob — with the Johnnies taking the 78-68 victory. Here are four takeaways as just one Big East game remains.
The only person who can stop Zuby Ejiofor is himself…
Seriously, who is stopping Zuby Ejiofor? Ejiofor makes every move into the paint look easy, posting up and getting to the basket with elite force, doing exactly what he’s done all season, dominate. Through the first nine minutes, Ejiofor had 10 of the team’s first 20, along with an assist and a rebound.
The senior was able to play 33 total minutes due to his limited foul trouble, totaling 20 points with four rebounds.
The question looms at large, who will stop Zuby? The only answer is himself.
There have been several times this season where the Red Storm desperately miss the presence of their leading scorer for key minutes due to early foul trouble, including their final go-around with the Pirates on March 6, where Ejiofor had two early fouls, forcing Ruben Prey to play one of his largest roles of the season.
In the NCAA tournament, the Red Storm will need to heavily rely on Ejiofor and his offensive production — because without him, where would they be?
Joson Sanon is seriously starting to prosper from beyond-the-arc.
After three months, the jury was out for Joson Sanon. His starting spot disappeared, his role became minimal — it started to look like a disappointing transfer. Sanon was known for his elite shooting skills, joining a St. John’s team that desperately needed to improve from beyond the arc.
However, the Arizona State transfer has found his footing, one that will carry a heavy load into the NCAA tournament. In their semifinal victory over Seton Hall, Sanon got the dice rolling from three, going 3-for-4 from three in the first half, hitting a tough step-back three followed by a foul, where he hit his lone free throw.
On the game, Sanon totaled 15 points, shooting 3-for-5 along with two steals.
“He’s one of the most talented players on this team and has amazing potential,” said Rick Pitino. “His shot is cold-blooded, I have tremendous confidence in him.”
Over the last five games, Sanon has averaged nine points, shooting 35% from beyond the arc, going 10-for-28 from three. His shot, as he says it best — is “coke-butter cheese,” which has left many people, including coach Pitino confused.
A look ahead to the championship game — St. John’s takes on UConn
The ultimate rubber match.
The Big East tournament will feature the top-two teams in the conference, playing for the third time this season, a guaranteed blockbuster contest.
Round one went to St. John’s — a Feb. 6 showdown at the Garden, where the Red Storm dominated the Huskies through 40 minutes of play, forcing 15 turnovers with their aggressive fullcourt set.
Round two was all UConn, a 99-1 fan ratio in Hartford, where St. John’s was held to a historical 40 points, the 8th lowest in program history, and lowest from a Rick Pitino-led team, adding insult to injury with a 17-minute stretch where not a single field goal was recorded.
Now, both teams meet again, one more time — this one for the Big East Championship.
UConn had the opportunity to hold a share of the Big East regular season title, with the bottom-tier Marquette Golden Eagles posing as their final team to beat. Instead, it was the Huskies — shellshocked, losing a game that was viewed as a given. St. John’s officially took home full control, and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
For St. John’s, history is on the horizon. With a win over the Huskies, it’ll be the first time in program history where the Johnnies hoisted a tournament trophy over Madison Square Garden in back-to-back seasons. A win would also guarantee a potential No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, set to kick off on March 19th.
“We know what we’re playing for,” said Dillon Mitchell. “We tried to stay level-headed. We understand there’s 40 minutes, coming out and leaving it all on the court. For us new guys, we want it just as bad.”
The Huskies serve as a physical nightmare for St. John’s, one of the most physical teams in the country, who can also drown anyone with their elite ability from beyond the arc. UConn is the first team in Big East history to have three players featured on the All-Conference first team — Silas Demary Jr, Alex Karaban, and Tarris Reed Jr.
Zuby Ejiofor and Reed have exchanged knockout punches in both of their bouts. In the Johnnies victory, Ejiofor dominated, scoring 21 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists — along with two steals and three blocks. In the blowout victory for Connecticut, Reed made the Big East Player of The Year look small, scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds and six blocks.
What the Johnnies have done well however is limit opponents from shooting three’s at an efficient rate — holding Providence, one of the better teams in the country at shooting, to a 5-for-14 performance.
“There’s no tournament, there’s tomorrow night,” said Pitino. “We played for our regular season as if our life was on the line, we will play tomorrow the same.”
The Johnnies are one win away — here’s some fun facts
- With the win over Seton Hall, St. John’s becomes the eighth division one program to reach the 2,000-win mark. They join Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, Temple, and Syracuse.
- Rick Pitino became the fifth head coach in Big East history to hit the 20-win mark in conference play in a single season.
- This is the fifth consecutive double-digit Big East Conference Tournament victory for St. John’s. First team to do it since UConn in 1999-2000.
- Zuby Ejiofor has scored 20+ points in four consecutive Big East tournament games. He is the first player since UConn guard Kemba Walker, who did so in 2011.
