St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
19-3,10-1Big East
Providence
11-11,5-6Big East
Kadary Richmond’s Game-Winner Lifts No. 15/14 St. John’s Over Providence in Thriller, 68-66
2/1/2025 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Richmond hit the game-winning jumper with :03 remaining in front of an MSG crowd of 19,196
NEW YORK – In a rollercoaster afternoon that came down to the wire, Kadary Richmond nailed the game-winner with three seconds left on the clock to lift the No. 15/14 St. John's men's basketball team over Providence in a thriller at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, 68-66.
After leading by as many as 19 in the second half, Providence came all the way back to tie the game at 66 with 0:33 remaining. On the Red Storm's final possession, Richmond shook a defender and splashed the mid-range jumper with 3.0 seconds on the clock to lift the Johnnies to their eighth-straight win.
The Red Storm has now won eight-straight regular season league games for the first time since it won eight consecutive from Feb. 1 from March 2, 1992. The Johnnies moved to 14-0 at home with Saturday's triumph, marking the fifth longest active home winning streak in the country. The Johnnies have also captured seven consecutive matchup inside the World's Most Famous Arena, including five this season. The Madison Square Garden win streak marks the program's longest since it won nine-straight from 2000-01.
Kadary Richmond exploded for a season-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting (71.4%) from the floor, matching his highest point total since he set his career-best with 28 against Providence on Dec. 17, 2022. The graduate student was all over the floor nearly tallying a triple-double adding eight rebounds, a season-high eight assists along with three steals.
RJ Luis Jr. has reached double-figures in 25 of his last 27 games for the Red Storm after finishing with 19 points. The junior also pulled down eight boards and has averaged 7.5 boards per contest over his last four games.
Zuby Ejiofor reached double-digits in scoring for the 14th consecutive game totaling 13 points on Saturday afternoon. Deivon Smith returned to action after missing three of the last four games due to injury and added six assists and a game-high three steals.
Jabri Abdul-Rahim led the Friars in scoring, making eight 3-pointers, the most by a BIG EAST player this season and finished with a game-high 27 points in Midtown.
St. John's forced Providence into 20 turnovers and converted the takeaways into 22 points on the other end. The Red Storm have now forced its opponent into 20 or more giveaways four times this season.
The Red Storm opened the contest by forcing a shot clock violation that led to a Luis Jr. triple. The Johnnies forced three turnovers in the opening two minutes and capitalized on the other end to jump out to a 6-0 advantage. The Friars' responded with a 10-2 run of their own to take the lead for the first time in the afternoon following a pair of 3-pointers from Abdul-Rahim, 10-8.
After the offense begam to sputter and Providence crawled out to a six-point edge 14-8. Richmond ended the drought with a floater. St. John's slowly climbed back as a pair of triples from Luis Jr. and Richmond brought the game within one, 19-18.
After the two sides traded baskets, The Johnnies took the lead back after Smith flushed a triple to regain the advantage, 23-21, with 1:17 left in the opening stanza. Ejiofor recorded the final bucket of the first half to give the Red Storm a 25-21 edge heading into the locker room. The defense held Providence to just 21 points, marking the third time in the last four games the Johnnies have held their opponent to 21 or fewer points.
In the latter half, St. John's recorded the first four paints as a Richmond lay-in brought the lead to eight, 29-21. Providence responded with a four-point play to cut its deficit to three, 31-28, with 16:54 on the clock.
The Red Storm turned it on as Luis Jr. ignited an 11-0 scoring run with a 3-pointer. After Luis Jr. tallied first five points of the stretch it was all Ejiofor, who went on a 6-0 solo spurt that included an emphatic putback jam that made The Garden crowd to its feet. The run was capped off by a fastbreak lay-up from the big man off a flash dish from Smith as the Red Storm advantage grew to 14, 42-28.
Providence ended the run with a make from long-range, before the Johnnies' stayed hot offensively. Richmond took over the game scoring eight of St. John's next 11 points to record his for 20-point game as a Johnnie. The graduate student closed the stretch by ripping a loose ball out of a Friars' hands and finishing through contact at the rim to tally an and one and bring the lead to the Red Storm's largest of the day, 53-34.
Providence would not go down without a fight, catching fire from beyond-the-arc to bring the game within one as part of a dominant 27-9 scoring run. The stretch was fueled by Abdur-Rahim, who nailed three of the Friars five three-pointers over a 4:07 stretch to carry the deficit all the way down to a single-point, 62-61, with 2:21 to play.
After Luis Jr. cashed in on a mid-range jumper to bring the edge back three, 66-63, Providence immediately responded with a game-tying triple from Bensley Joseph to knot the score at 66 with 0:33 to play.
With the score tied on St. John's final possession, the Red Storm held the ball until the clock dwindled below 10 seconds. Richmond worked around a screen from Ejiofor to get to the free throw line. The team captain pulled up for the mid-range splashing it home for the game-winner. Providence had a final opportunity hocking up a halfcourt shot that was off the mark at the buzzer as the Johnnies swept the Friars for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
St. John's will be back in action at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for a marquee matchup against No. 9/9 Marquette at 6:30 p.m. on FS1.
