Red Storm await Friars or Bulldogs in BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals
By Noah Zimmerman
It was another must-watch game between the #6 St. John’s Red Storm and the #20 Marquette Golden Eagles over the weekend.
An overtime thriller ended in buzzer-beater fashion as the Johnnies picked up their 18th BIG EAST win, the most ever recorded in program history.
Despite clinching the BIG EAST Regular Season title outright the previous weekend, the Red Storm fought hard against a Marquette team hungry for a top-3 seed in the conference tournament.
It was a razor-thin margin at the half, with St. John’s up 36-35 but it was level at 75 after the second frame. The largest Golden Eagle lead was 8 and the largest for St. John’s 6.
With 26 seconds left in OT, a Kam Jones layup tied the game once more at 84. Jones led all scorers with 32 for the Golden Eagles on his Senior Day.
RJ Luis Jr. brought the ball back down the floor for the Red Storm, looking for a game-winning three. His miss was rebounded by Marquette’s Chase Ross, but a clutch steal by Kadary Richmond and quick pass by Simeon Wilcher set up Zuby Ejiofor for his second buzzer-beating layup of the year.
Ejiofor finished with another double-double (17p, 12r). Luis Jr. added 28, with Richmond recording the first Red Storm triple-double since Ron Artest in 1999.
St. John’s open the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at 12pm, where they’ll play the winner of Wednesday’s game between 8th seed Providence and 9th seed Butler. All games will be held at MSG.
Red Storm’s Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr., Kadary Richmond win annual BIG EAST Honors
To add on to his game winner on Saturday, Zuby Ejiofor was named BIG EAST Most Improved Player on Monday morning. In his second year at St. John’s, the Junior averaged 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and nearly 2.5 combined blocks and steals per game.
He and RJ Luis Jr. were named to the BIG EAST 1st Team, with Kadary Richmond named to the 2nd Team.
RJ Luis Jr. was also a favorite to win BIG EAST Player of the Year, with Rick Pitino favored for Coach of the Year at the annual BIG EAST awards ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
