St. John’s Routs Harvard to Close Non-Conference Action, 85-59

Tuesday, December 23

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

6 p.m.

St. John's University

8-4,1-0Big East

Harvard

6-7,0-0Ivy League

Harvard

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Routs Harvard to Close Non-Conference Action, 85-59

12/23/2025 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Play-by-Play (PDF)Photo Gallery VIDEO: Highlights VIDEO: Press Conference Photo Gallery

The Red Storm men’s basketball team captured its 19th-straight win at Carnesecca Arena

QUEENS, N.Y. - The RV/RV St. John's men's basketball team routed Harvard, 85-59, to close its non-conference slate on Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena.

After Harvard jumped out to an early lead, the Red Storm put its foot on the gas coming out of the under-8 media timeout in the opening half. The Johnnies closed the first stanza on a 20-2 scoring run and never looked back outpacing the Crimson, 61-30, over the final 26:56.

Since the arrival of Head Coach Rick Pitino prior to the 2023-24 campaign, St. John's has won all 19 contests at Carnesecca Arena by an average margin of victory of 24.6 points per game.

Zuby Ejiofor stuffed the stat sheet as the senior standout recorded 14 points, nine rebounds, a game-high four helpers and two steals.

Ian Jackson lit it up from downtown splashing a season-high four 3-pointers in Tuesday's non-conference finale and finished with 14 points. Bryce Hopkins was the third Johnnie to tie for the team lead in scoring adding 14 points on 50 percent shooting and a team-high four assists.

Joson Sanon was the fourth Red Storm player to reach double-digits logging 10 points and Dillon Mitchell chipped in nine points and five boards.

The Red Storm tallied 17 points off turnovers capitalizing on its full-court defensive pressure in its Carnesecca Arena finale. The Johnnies shot 50 percent (31-62) for the fifth time this season.

Harvard (7-6) went 6-for-6 to start the contest and sprung out to a 13-5 advantage in the first four minutes of the game. The Red Storm clawed back as Jackson nailed his second triple of the evening to pull within one, 13-12, with 14:07 left in the first half. Ejiofor cashed in from the line as the Johnnies took their first lead of the game,14-13, and capped off a 9-0 scoring run.

The Crimson managed to take 29-24 edge going into the under-8 media timeout, however the Johnnies pressure force a Harvard 10-second violation igniting a turn in the tides. Ejiofor threw home a putback slam to start the 10-0 stretch for St. John's. Jackson matched a season-best with three 3-pointers just 14:52 into the game. Hopkins finished out the run with a second chance lay-in to force a Crimson timeout, 36-31, with 4:27 left to play.

The Red Storm's scoring surge continued to expand as it engineered a 20-2 run over the final 6:19 of the first stanza, forcing five Harvard turnovers during that stretch. St. John's made nine of its final 13 field goals to close the frame and carry a 46-33 cushion into the locker room.

In the second half, Jackson remained hot from beyond-the-arc connecting on his season-high fourth 3-pointer of the game. As the Red Storm's lead expanded, Hopkins bagged a triple from the corner and Dylan Darling cut straight through the lane for a tough finish in traffic as the advantage grew to 22, 58-36, with 16:28 remaining.

Later in the half, Darling found Mitchell with a long leading pass as the senior leapt up for a seamless two-handed jam on the breakaway to make it 68-44 with 11:18 to go.

With just under five minutes to play, Kelvin Odih scooped home the putback on the break as St. John's took its largest lead of the night, 77-50. Lefteris Liotopoulos went for the next eight St. John's points, including back-to-back triples to reach a new career-high two makes from long-range leading to a convincing victory, 85-59.

St. John's will return to BIG EAST action on New Year's Eve for a battle with Georgetown at 8 p.m. from the nation's capital on FS1.