No. 15/13 Iowa State Outlasts No. 14/15 St. John’s, 83-82

Monday, November 24

Las Vegas, Nev. (Michelob ULTRA Arena)

4:30 p.m.

St. John's University

3-2,0-0Big East

No. 15/13 Iowa State

5-0,0-0Big 12

Iowa St.

St. John's (NY)

No. 15/13 Iowa State Outlasts No. 14/15 St. John’s, 83-82

11/24/2025 7:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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St. John’s guard Oziyah Sellers scored season-high 20 points

LAS VEGAS – In a back-and-forth affair that featured eight second-half lead changes, No. 15/13 Iowa State (5-0) landed the last blow, defeating No. 14/15 St. John's (3-2), 83-82, on the opening day of the Players Era Championship at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Oziyah Sellers put forth his most productive performance as a Johnnie, scoring a season-high 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. The senior from Hayward, Calif., sank all four of his 3-point attempts in the second half. Monday's game marked the seventh 20-point effort of Sellers' collegiate career.

Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins finished with 16 points apiece. The frontcourt duo also pulled down nine and seven rebounds, respectively. In addition to narrowly missing out on his second double-double of the campaign, Ejiofor also dished out a season-high five assists.

Dillon Mitchell tallied 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes of action.

Milan Momcilovic scored a game-high 23 points for the Cyclones (5-0), connecting on five of his nine 3-point tries.

Iowa State found it difficult to miss in the early going, making eight of its first 11 field goal tries and moving ahead by 10, 23-13, with 11:51 to go in the half.

Down 25-15 with just under nine minutes to play in the period, the Red Storm rattled off a 21-6 run to take its largest lead of the half, 36-31, with 4:25 remaining.

The two teams traded buckets the rest of the way before St. John's took a 45-43 lead into the locker room.

The Cyclones jumped back in front in the opening minutes of the second half, kicking off the period with a 6-0 run.

After falling behind by as many as seven, 62-55, the Red Storm answered with a 13-2 burst to move ahead by four, 68-64, with 8:48 to go. Mitchell led the way with six points on the St. John's run.

Ahead 72-68 following an Ejiofor bucket with 7:22 to play, St. John's went without a point for the next 3:01 as Iowa State peeled off on a 9-0 run to retake the lead.

With his team down five, 79-74, Sellers answered the call by draining triples on back-to-back possessions, putting the Red Storm back in front by one, 80-79, with 2:09 to go.

The Red Storm, however, missed their next four field goal attempts down the stretch, as the Cyclones jumped back in front on a Momcilovic layup with 1:55 remaining.

With the Johnnies down by three on the final possession after a pair of Joshua Jefferson free throws, a potentially game-tying attempt by Ejiofor missed its mark. Mitchell laid in a close-range bucket in the final second to make it an 83-82 final in favor of the Cyclones.

St. John's will return to action in less than 24 hours, when it faces Baylor on Tuesday. Tip-off from Michelob ULTRA is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on truTV and 880 AM ESPN New York.