St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
16-3,7-1Big East
Seton Hall
6-12,1-6Big East
RV/RV St. John’s Routs Seton Hall on the Road, 79-51
1/19/2025 12:08:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm sits atop of the BIG EAST standings with a 7-1 record in conference play
NEWARK, N.J. – The RV/RV St. John's men's basketball team (16-3, 7-1 BIG EAST) routed Seton Hall (6-12, 1-6 BIG EAST) in a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday night at the Prudential Center, 79-51.
With the victory, the Johnnies move atop the BIG EAST standings with a 7-1 mark in conference competition. The Red Storm have won 11 of its last 12 contests and five consecutive games.
St. John's locked down its local rival defensively, allowing Seton Hall to score just 16 points on 13.3 percent shooting (4-30) in the opening half setting the tone for a convincing win in Newark.
The Red Storm's decisive win over Seton Hall marked its first inside the Prudential Center since Feb. 13, 2014, and the largest margin of victory in the series in 45 years, when it dominated the Pirates, 97-64, on Jan. 12, 1980, at Alumni Hall in Queens.
RJ Luis Jr. paced the Johnnies offensively, going off for 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The junior added eight boards and shot 4-of-5 from beyond-the-arc, marking a career-high.
Zuby Ejiofor continued to be a force down low, finishing the contest with 15 points and nine boards, including 7-for-8 shooting from the charity stripe. Aaron Scott tallied his fourth-straight double-digit scoring effort, logging 10 points and eight boards.
Kadary Richmond had an efficient night, totaling 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting (71.4%), six assists, five rebounds and two steals in his return to the Prudential Center. The Brooklyn native has dished out five or more assists in each of his last five appearances.
Ruben Prey was staunch defensively, protecting the rim with a season-high five blocks. The Lisbon, Portugal native tallied the most swats by a St. John's freshman since Kasoum Yakwe on Feb. 3, 2016 against Xavier.
On the opening offensive possession, Richmond slipped a pass to Ejiofor for the two-handed jam that set the tone. The Red Storm started off strong, scoring the game's first seven points and never looked back. Richmond made an instant impact, cashing in on consecutive driving lay-ups and swinging an on-target pass to Luis Jr., who cashed in on a corner triple to bring the scoreline to 12-3 and force a Seton Hall timeout.
Luis Jr. continued to dominate in the early going, making his second triple of the night after drilling a step-back triple from long-range. After Seton Hall trimmed the deficit to 17-7, the Miami native ignited the offense once again, finishing at the rim and nailing his third 3-pointer of the night. The junior scored 13 of St. John's first 22 points. The Pirates went without scoring for 5:38 as the Johnnies' lead expanded to as many as 19, 26-7, after Scott hammered home an alley-oop off the feed from Deivon Smith.
The St John's defense continued to suffocate Seton Hall, holding the Pirates without a field goal for 8:51 before Chaunce Jenkins finally snapped the streak with 6:45 left in the half. Jaiden Glover flushed a triple as the Johnnies first half lead expanded to as many as 24, 37-13. The Red Storm went into the locker room with a 23-point lead, 39-16. The Red Storm held Seton Hall to just 16 points in the opening 20 minutes, the lowest first half scoring total for a Red Storm opponent since it held Rutgers to 14 on Feb. 6, 2008. The Red Storm held the Pirates to just 13.3 percent (4-30) shooting in the opening half.
In the latter 20 minutes, Seton Hall showed life, putting together an 11-2 scoring run, including a 6-0 spurt over just 0:22 get within 16, 45-29. Simeon Wilcher shut the door on the momentum with a thunderous slam down the middle of the lane.
Later in the second frame, after Seton Hall brought it back to a 16-point margin at the 11:04 mark, the Johnnies expanded their lead, as Luis Jr. and Smith went back and forth for a highlight-reel alley-oop slam the game's leading scorer finished emphatically at the rim. The Johnnies led by 20 or more for the final 10 minutes of the contest.
The Red Storm engineered one final run to put a stamp on a dominant performance. Vince Iwuchukwu had a great sequence, pinning a block on the backboard. The 7-foot-1 big man then took off to the other end of the floor and hammered home a dunk. Luis Jr. finished his evening with a windmill slam as the lead grew to as many as 32, 79-47.
St. John's will be back in action at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night when Xavier rolls in for a 7 p.m. contest. To purchase tickets, click here or visit RedStormTix.com.
