St. John's University Athletics
Tuesday, February 4
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
6:30 p.m.
St. John's University
20-3,11-1Big East
70
vs
64
No. 11/11 Marquette
18-5,9-3Big East
1
2
F
Marquette
31
33
64
St. John's (NY)
30
40
70
No. 12/10 St. John’s Captures Ninth Straight Victory Topping No. 11/11 Marquette, 70-64
2/4/2025 10:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Box ScoreBox Score (PDF)Play-by-Play (PDF)VIDEO: HighlightsVIDEO: Press ConferencePostgame QuotesPhoto Gallery
The Red Storm moves to 11-1 in BIG EAST play for the first time since the 1984-85 season
NEW YORK– The No. 12/10 St. John's men's basketball team (20-3, 11-1 BIG EAST) added a marquee win to its resume on Tuesday, topping No. 11/11 Marquette (18-5, 9-3 BIG EAST), 70-64, at Madison Square Garden.
In a tightly contested battle where neither side led by more than eight points, the Red Storm willed its way down the stretch to a ninth straight victory and the program's highest ranked win at Madison Square Garden since it defeated then-No. 4/5 Duke on Feb. 3, 2018.
St. John's moved to 20-3 on the year, marking the quickest the Johnnies have reached the 20-win threshold since the 1985-86 season when they captured 20 wins by Jan. 29. The Red Storm also expanded its lead in the BIG EAST standings, improving to 11-1 in conference play, both marks that have been unseen since the 1984-85 season. St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino has now reached 20 wins in 19 of his last 20 seasons as a collegiate coach.
The Red Storm trio of RJ Luis Jr., Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor was dominant on Tuesday at "The World's Most Famous Arena," as all three players posted double-doubles. It marked a program first since Joel Soriano, David Jones and Dylan Addae-Wusu all had double-doubles in a double-overtime win over DePaul on Feb. 14, 2023.
Luis Jr. put up a monster stat line posting 17 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and a career-high three blocks. The junior's double-double marked his seventh of the season and has now reached double-figures in scoring in 22 of 23 games this season.
Richmond continued his dominant stretch recording a game-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, a season-high 11 boards and eight assists. Over his last two games, the graduate student is averaging 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 helpers.
Ejiofor matched his personal best with 13 rebounds and added 13 points for his 15th consecutive double-digit scoring performance.
The Johnnies dominated the glass, outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 50-28, including 21-5 on the offensive end. The plus-22 rebounding margin marked St. John's highest in a regular season conference game since it outrebounded then-No. 9 West Virginia, 49-25, on Jan. 29, 2006.
After Marquette guard Chase Ross buried a 3-pointer for the first bucket of the game, the Red Storm went on a 9-0 run that was capped by Simeon Wilcher's layup just before the first media timeout. However, the Golden Eagles answered with a 13-2 run including 10-straight points to take a 16-11 advantage after Zaide Lowery's 3-pointer at the 10:30 mark.
The Golden Eagles made 4-of-6 3-point attempts in the first 10 minutes of action before St. John's defense clamped down and held them to a 4-for-19 effort the rest of the way.
St. John's fell behind by as many as six points with just over six minutes to play in the first half but answered with a 10-2 run. Aaron Scott topped off the offensive flurry with a corner 3-pointer to regain a 29-27 advantage for the Johnnies.
Ross scored the final two field goals of the first half to send the Golden Eagles into the locker room with a 31-30 edge.
In the second half, the Johnnies started off hot orchestrating an 8-0 spurt ignited by a 3-pointer from Wilcher. Then it was Richmond who finished through contact to help extend the Johnnies' advantage to seven, 38-31, forcing a Golden Eagles' timeout.
The two sides battled neck and neck throughout the latter stanza. Marquette managed to regain a lead, 55-54, with a Kam Jones triple at the 5:20 mark. Jones scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
Despite struggling from the free-throw line, St. John's began to separate itself from the Golden Eagles down the stretch. Richmond made clutch plays, including a feed to Scott for the slam to cap off a 6-0 spurt that that pushed the Johnnies ahead 66-59. On the defensive end, Richmond made a key block on a 3-point attempt that sent The Garden crowd into a roar with 1:11 remaining.
Leading by six in the final 30 seconds, the Johnnies broke the press as Luis Jr. put a dunk home on the other end to all but seal the victory.
St. John's returns to action on Friday visiting No. 19/18 Connecticut. The contest at Gampel Pavilion will tip-off at 8 p.m. on FOX.
In a tightly contested battle where neither side led by more than eight points, the Red Storm willed its way down the stretch to a ninth straight victory and the program's highest ranked win at Madison Square Garden since it defeated then-No. 4/5 Duke on Feb. 3, 2018.
St. John's moved to 20-3 on the year, marking the quickest the Johnnies have reached the 20-win threshold since the 1985-86 season when they captured 20 wins by Jan. 29. The Red Storm also expanded its lead in the BIG EAST standings, improving to 11-1 in conference play, both marks that have been unseen since the 1984-85 season. St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino has now reached 20 wins in 19 of his last 20 seasons as a collegiate coach.
The Red Storm trio of RJ Luis Jr., Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor was dominant on Tuesday at "The World's Most Famous Arena," as all three players posted double-doubles. It marked a program first since Joel Soriano, David Jones and Dylan Addae-Wusu all had double-doubles in a double-overtime win over DePaul on Feb. 14, 2023.
Luis Jr. put up a monster stat line posting 17 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and a career-high three blocks. The junior's double-double marked his seventh of the season and has now reached double-figures in scoring in 22 of 23 games this season.
Richmond continued his dominant stretch recording a game-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, a season-high 11 boards and eight assists. Over his last two games, the graduate student is averaging 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 helpers.
Ejiofor matched his personal best with 13 rebounds and added 13 points for his 15th consecutive double-digit scoring performance.
The Johnnies dominated the glass, outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 50-28, including 21-5 on the offensive end. The plus-22 rebounding margin marked St. John's highest in a regular season conference game since it outrebounded then-No. 9 West Virginia, 49-25, on Jan. 29, 2006.
After Marquette guard Chase Ross buried a 3-pointer for the first bucket of the game, the Red Storm went on a 9-0 run that was capped by Simeon Wilcher's layup just before the first media timeout. However, the Golden Eagles answered with a 13-2 run including 10-straight points to take a 16-11 advantage after Zaide Lowery's 3-pointer at the 10:30 mark.
The Golden Eagles made 4-of-6 3-point attempts in the first 10 minutes of action before St. John's defense clamped down and held them to a 4-for-19 effort the rest of the way.
St. John's fell behind by as many as six points with just over six minutes to play in the first half but answered with a 10-2 run. Aaron Scott topped off the offensive flurry with a corner 3-pointer to regain a 29-27 advantage for the Johnnies.
Ross scored the final two field goals of the first half to send the Golden Eagles into the locker room with a 31-30 edge.
In the second half, the Johnnies started off hot orchestrating an 8-0 spurt ignited by a 3-pointer from Wilcher. Then it was Richmond who finished through contact to help extend the Johnnies' advantage to seven, 38-31, forcing a Golden Eagles' timeout.
The two sides battled neck and neck throughout the latter stanza. Marquette managed to regain a lead, 55-54, with a Kam Jones triple at the 5:20 mark. Jones scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
Despite struggling from the free-throw line, St. John's began to separate itself from the Golden Eagles down the stretch. Richmond made clutch plays, including a feed to Scott for the slam to cap off a 6-0 spurt that that pushed the Johnnies ahead 66-59. On the defensive end, Richmond made a key block on a 3-point attempt that sent The Garden crowd into a roar with 1:11 remaining.
Leading by six in the final 30 seconds, the Johnnies broke the press as Luis Jr. put a dunk home on the other end to all but seal the victory.
St. John's returns to action on Friday visiting No. 19/18 Connecticut. The contest at Gampel Pavilion will tip-off at 8 p.m. on FOX.
Team Stats
Marq
SJU
FG%
.407
.417
3FG%
.320
.188
FT%
.667
.548
RB
28
50
TO
10
14
STL
9
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard/Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's BasketballGuard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballOpen Practice Press Conference 8.5.2025
Tuesday, August 05
St. John's Basketball Adidas Launch Media Availability7.16.25
Wednesday, July 16
Coach Pitino Press Conference Yankee Stadium 6.4.2025
Wednesday, June 04
Rick Pitino: 2024-25 Coach of the Year in Review
Friday, May 09