No. 20/21 St. John’s Mounts Second-Half Comeback to Down Xavier, 79-71, in Overtime

Wednesday, January 22

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

17-3,8-1Big East

Xavier

12-8,4-5Big East

OT 1

Xavier

St. John's (NY)

No. 20/21 St. John’s Mounts Second-Half Comeback to Down Xavier, 79-71, in Overtime

1/22/2025 10:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Kadary Richmond registered 19 points as the Red Storm rallied from 16 points down for the second time in conference play

NEW YORK – For the second time in BIG EAST play, the No. 20/21 St. John's men's basketball team orchestrated a valiant comeback to erase a 16-point deficit and took down Xavier, 79-71, in overtime on Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden.

Trailing by as many as 16 with 17:02 remaining in the second half, the Red Storm (17-3, 8-1 BIG EAST) registered a 29-10 run to claim its first lead, 63-60, since 8:54 of the first stanza. Kadary Richmond rallied in front of 14,545 fans and quickly responded to Xavier's five-point spurt by plowing through the defense for a finish at the rim to tie the game at 65 with 1:03 to go. Both teams exchanged shot clock violations before heading to overtime.

St. John's shined to open the extra period, scoring the first eight points. Richmond forced a turnover on the Musketeers' Zach Freemantle and sent Simeon Wilcher in transition. The sophomore guard found a streaking Zuby Ejiofor through the paint and the big man finished off the feed at the rim. After Richmond stutter-stepped and sank his jumper at the top of the key, Ejiofor sent the Garden faithful into a frenzy with an and-one, completing the three-point for a 73-65 lead with two minutes to play.

The Red Storm staved off its visitors down the stretch as the Musketeers (12-8, 4-5 BIG EAST) slashed its deficit to as few as three. The Johnnies knocked down eight free throws in the extra stanza, proving to be the difference in the team's eight-point victory.

St. John's secured a win with just one 3-pointer made for the second time this season. The Johnnies also drained one trey in their 70-62 win over Butler on Jan. 4. The Red Storm erased a 16-point deficit in the second half for the second time since the start of BIG EAST action, wiping out the same margin at Providence in its 72-70 win on Dec. 20.

With the win, St. John's moves to 8-1 in conference play, matching its best start since the 1998-99 campaign. The Red Storm also completed just its third series sweep of Xavier since the BIG EAST realignment in 2013.

Richmond paced four Johnnies in double figures with 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting, reaching 1,500 points in his collegiate career. He became the fourth active NCAA Division I player to register 1,500 career points and 600 career assists. The 6-foot-6 guard also chipped in seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in 44 minutes of action.

Ejiofor, Wilcher and RJ Luis Jr. all chipped in 16 points apiece in the win. Ejiofor and Luis held strong on the boards with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

St. John's and Xavier went back and forth with nine lead changes and five ties through the first 12:10 of action. Wilcher led the Red Storm in scoring through the span with nine points of his own. The Musketeers surged out to a 24-8 run down the stretch of the first half to take a 14-point lead before an Ejiofor jumper and a pair of made free throws from Sadiku Ibine Ayo brought the Johnnies' deficit to 40-30 at the intermission.

A 60.3 percent shooting clip (14-23 FG) from the floor in the second half was instrumental to the Red Storm's come-from-behind victory. Trailing by 16 with 17:02 remaining in regulation, Luis stepped on the gas and drove through the lane to score the next eight St. John's points, part of a 15-5 run that brought the team to within six, 55-49, at the 9:51 mark.

The Johnnies quickly responded to a trey from Xavier's Ryan Cronwell, with Ejiofor and Wilcher banking in layups off the glass and Luis hitting a baseline jumper to trim the visitors' advantage to three, 58-55, with 6:30 to play in regulation.

Richmond brought the Red Storm to within one, 60-59, just over 90 seconds later after stepping around a defender, pulling up to the free-throw line and sinking his 1,500th career point at 4:58. The Brooklyn product sank another running floater before Luis intercepted the ensuing inbound pass and drained a hook shot in close to put St. John's up by three, 63-60, with 3:30 on the clock.

The Johnnies and Musketeers, deadlocked at 65 with 1:03 to play, bunkered down defensively to force extra time. After a pair of shot clock violations, the Red Storm forced a turnover and saw its final heave from Wilcher fall short at the end of regulation. St. John's held Xavier to one made field goal and outscored the opposition, 14-6, in the final five minutes of action.

The Musketeers' Conwell led all scorers with 21 points, while Dailyn Swain and Zach Freemantle finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

St. John's will hit the road to face Georgetown inside Capital One Arena on Tuesday. Tip-off from Washington D.C. is slated for 6:30 p.m. on FS1.