RV/RV St. John’s Sinks RV Xavier, 82-72

Tuesday, January 7

Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center)

6:30 p.m.

St. John's University

13-3,4-1Big East

RV Xavier

9-7,1-4Big East

St. John's (NY)

Xavier

1/7/2025 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Five Johnnies finish in double figures as the Red Storm improve to 4-1 in BIG EAST play

CINCINNATI (Jan. 7, 2025) – Looking for a signature win inside one of the BIG EAST's toughest road environments, the St. John's men's basketball team never trailed in the final 39 minutes of an 82-72 win over Xavier at Cintas Center on Tuesday night.

With the win, St. John's improved to 4-1 in BIG EAST play for the second straight season under Hall of Fame Head Coach Rick Pitino. Prior to Pitino's arrival in Queens, the Johnnies had not won four of their first five league games since 2000-01.

RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor recorded double-doubles in the same game for the second time this season to lead the way for St. John's (13-3, 4-1 BIG EAST). Ejiofor paced the Johnnies with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 12 boards, nine of which came on the offensive glass. Luis had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The BIG EAST's top offensive rebounding team at 14.5 per game entering the contest, the Johnnies dominated the glass, turning 20 offensive boards into 22 second-chance points. On the game, St. John's outrebounded Xavier, 50-30.

Sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher scored 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting for his eighth double-figure outing of the season.

The last of St. John's five double-figure scorers, Aaron Scott and Kadary Richmond chipped in 12 points apiece in the victory. Scott pulled down eight rebounds while Richmond dished out a team-high six assists.

The nation's 12^th best 3-point shooting team entering the game at 39.8 percent, Xavier (9-7, 1-4 BIG EAST) went 4-of-18 (22.2%) from deep and made just two of its first 15 tries. The Musketeers did not fare better in the paint, where St. John's outscored them, 54-30.

As a team, the Red Storm committed just eight turnovers, registered eight steals and blocked eight shots.

The Red Storm came out of the gate firing, using an early 15-4 run to open an 11-point lead, 19-8, with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening half. Richmond scored the team's first six points of the evening.

The Johnnies built their lead to as many as 14, 29-15, following a pair of Deivon Smith free throws near the seven-minute mark before the Musketeers rattled off six straight to bring their deficit into single digits with five minutes to play in the period.

St. John's built its lead back to a dozen, 37-25, with 2:56 remaining before a 10-2 Xavier burst cut the advantage to four with just under a minute to go in the half.

Leading by four, 41-37, at the intermission, the Red Storm set the tone early in the second half. On the period's opening possession, Ejiofor blocked a Ryan Conwell 3-pointer before laying it in on the fastbreak. 15 seconds later, Scott tipped a Xavier pass to himself before throwing down a one-handed transition slam.

Ahead by seven, 53-46, after a Dailyn Swain triple with 12:44 to go, the Red Storm rattled off a 14-3 run over the next four-plus minutes to take its largest lead of the game, 67-49, with 8:29 remaining. The Musketeers did not get closer than nine the rest of the way.

St. John's will return to action on Saturday night, playing host to Villanova at "The World's Most Famous Arena." Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Fans can purchase their tickets to the contest here.