Ejiofor’s Game-Winner Lifts No. 6/6 St. John’s Past No. 20/20 Marquette, 86-84, on the Road in Overtime

Saturday, March 8

Milwaukee, Wis. (Fiserv Forum)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

27-4,18-2Big East

No. 20/20 Marquette

22-9,13-7Big East

OT 1

St. John's (NY)

Marquette

Ejiofor’s Game-Winner Lifts No. 6/6 St. John’s Past No. 20/20 Marquette, 86-84, on the Road in Overtime

3/8/2025 4:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm junior forward Zuby Ejiofor hits game winner at the buzzer; St. John’s ties a program record with its 27th regular season victory

MILWAUKEE – Zuby Ejiofor sent the St. John's men's basketball team (27-4, 18-2 BIG EAST) home from Milwaukee with its program record tying 27^th regular season victory, as the junior forward buried a bucket at the buzzer to upend Marquette (22-9, 13-7 BIG EAST), 86-84, in overtime on Saturday.

The Johnnies quieted a sold-out crowd of 17,983 fans at Fiserv Forum on the final day of the regular season behind clutch performances from RJ Luis Jr. and Kadary Richmond. Luis led St. John's with 28 points, shooting 10-for-19 from floor with a trio of 3-pointers, to go with 11 rebounds marking his ninth double-double of the season.

Richmond recorded the first triple-double in program history since Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly Ron Artest, reached the milestone on Jan. 9, 1999. Richmond's masterful performance included 10 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals.

Ejiofor, who also sank a game winner at the buzzer in the team's first BIG EAST road game at Providence on Dec. 20, finished with a double-double of 17 points and 12 boards. Simeon Wilcher delivered the dish to Ejiofor after Richmond came up with the steal with seconds ticking away. The sophomore guard scored 13 points of his own and posted three assists over 41 minutes of action.

St. John's will enter the BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time since the 1985-86 season, which was the same year the Johnnies also set the program record for wins in the regular season with a 27-4 mark. The Red Storm became just the second team in BIG EAST history to win 18 conference games, matching the 2023-24 National Champion Connecticut Huskies.

The Red Storm erased an eight-point deficit with 8:26 to go in the first half and rallied to take a 36-35 advantage into the break. The first half featured five lead changes and six ties. Ejiofor nearly recorded a double-double by intermission, as the junior forward scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the opening stanza. The Garland, Texas, native grabbed five of his offensive boards in the first eight minutes of action and finished with seven offensive rebounds.

Wilcher gave the Johnnies a boost in his first start since Feb. 16 when the Johnnies downed then-No. 24/21 Creighton at MSG. The sophomore guard scored nine of his 13 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the field with a triple, in the first half.

The Red Storm opened its largest lead of the half on a pair of free-throws from Lefteris Liotopoulos to go up 11-6 at 14:08. Marquette countered minutes later with a 13-2 run to open an eight-point advantage, 23-15, with 8:26 to go in the first half, the Golden Eagles' largest advantage of the game.

Coming out of the under eight-minute media timeout, the Johnnies scored on four-straight possessions in one minute and 28 seconds to even the game at 23. Ruben Prey sparked the spurt with a steal that lead to Ejiofor's finish at the rim. Richmond followed with back-to-back layups before Liotopolous knotted the score with a bucket on the interior.

Ejiofor's putback slam with five seconds remaining pushed the Johnnies on top at the break.

After scoring just four points in 14 minutes of action in the first half, Luis scored five points in 85 seconds to start the second half. He converted a layup in transition before draining a 3-pointer to send St. John's up, 41-37.

It was a one possession game for the majority of the second half in the seesaw battle of Top-25 teams. St. John's led by as many as six points in the latter stanza after Vince Iwuchukwu's bucket on the interior put the Red Storm up, 68-62, at 6:18. David Joplin answered for the Golden Eagles with the next two baskets before tying the game at 69-69 with a triple.

In the final 40 seconds of regulation, Kam Jones converted a layup and Stevie Mitchell hit the front end of a one-and-one to put Marquette up 75-73. On the Red Storm's final possession, Richmond delivered his 10^th assist of the game to Luis for the lay-up to force overtime.

To start the extra session, Richmond drained a mid-range jumper to register his second career triple-double. After the Johnnies went up four, Joplin hit a pair of free-throws and Ross hit a 3-pointer to put Marquette up 82-81 at 1:24. Luis answered again for the Johnnies 15 seconds later with a clutch three from the corner to regain an 84-82 advantage.

Jones tied the game for the 16^th time with another layup with 26 seconds to go. On the final possession of the contest, Richmond poked a defensive rebound away from Ross that fell into Wilcher's hands who shuffled it to Ejiofor for the game-winner, the big man's second buzzer-beater to win as time expired this season.

Top-seeded St. John's opens the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament in a quarterfinal contest on Thursday at 12 p.m. against the winner of Butler and Providence. Peacock will carry the live broadcast from Madison Square Garden.

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