No. 17/17 St. John’s Edges Xavier, 87-82, in Overtime

Monday, February 9

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

6:30 p.m.

St. John's University

19-5,12-1Big East

Xavier

12-12,4-9Big East

OT 1

Xavier

St. John's (NY)

In a game that saw 15 lead changes and 15 tied scores, the Johnnies completed the regular season sweep of the Musketeers.

No. 17/17 St. John’s Edges Xavier, 87-82, in Overtime

2/9/2026 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team wins its 10th-straight contest on Monday at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK - No. 17/17 St. John's (19-5, 12-1 BIG EAST) outlasted Xavier in overtime, 87-82, for its 10^th straight victory on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

The BIG EAST battle was closely contested all night long as neither team led by more than five points. The matchup featured 15 ties and 15 lead changes as the Johnnies prevailed in their first extra period game of the season.

With the victory, the Red Storm's extended its win streak to 10 games, which is tied for the second longest in the program's BIG EAST history. St. John's has now started 12-1 in conference play for the second straight year. The best start before then was in 1984-85, when St. John's won its first 14-straight to start BIG EAST play.

On Monday, Rick Pitino moved in sole possession of third all-time on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball wins list with victory no. 904, surpassing Roy Williams. Pitino now only trails Jim Boeheim (1,112) and Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) on the career wins chart.

Zuby Ejiofor, who was named NCAA March Madness National Player of the Week earlier today, continued his dominant play. The St. John's big man went for a game-high 25 points on 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) shooting, seven boards, five assists and a pair of steals.

Red Storm forward Bryce Hopkins went off for 19 points on 81.8 percent (9-11 FT) shooting from the line, nine rebounds and drew nine fouls. The graduate student has scored double-figures in nine of his last 10 appearances.

Dylan Darling finished one point shy of a season-high, adding 16 points and four assists to help lift the Johnnies. Dillon Mitchell paced all players with 12 rebounds, one short a season-best.

Xavier (12-12, 4-9 BIG EAST) was led by Tre Carroll who poured in 21 points while as a team the Musketeers committed just nine turnovers in the setback.

The Red Storm shot 28-for-41 from the free throw line over 45 minutes of action. The 41 attempts from the charity stripe marked the program's highest total since Nov. 9, 2011, when it took 44 in a win over Lehigh, 78-73.

After missing its first four attempts from the floor, the Red Storm turned it on offensively cashing in on five of its next six shots to hold a 12-10 edge at the under-16 media timeout.

Midway through the opening half, Xavier orchestrated a 7-0 scoring run to open a five-point advantage, 24-19. However, Darling answered with the next six points for the Red Storm to regain the advantage, 27-26, with 5:31 left in the half.

Over the final two minutes of the opening frame, the two sides traded baskets and the lead four times. The Musketeers' Isaiah Walker drained a triple with a single second remaining to square the score, 42-42, at halftime.

In the latter half, the game went back-and-forth and neither team led by more than four points in the opening 10 minutes. The Musketeers grabbed a four-point edge before a spinning lay-up from Ejiofor and a 3-pointer by Sadiku Ibine Ayo knotted the score, 60-60, with 12:06 remaining.

The Musketeers matched their largest lead of the evening going in front by five at the 9:26 mark before a breakaway dunk for Oziyah Sellers ignited a St. John's spurt. Mitchell then flew down the lane to finish a finger-roll to put the Johnnies back in front, 72-71. Darling followed with a bucket through traffic to put St. John's ahead by three with 5:17 remaining.

Xavier continued to fight back and tied the score for the 13^th time with an Anthony Robinson dunk at 1:10. Carroll's layup put the visitors ahead forcing the final St. John's timeout in regulation with 46 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing St. John's possession, the Red Storm secured three offensive rebounds before a Sellers' tip-in with 16 seconds on the clock knotted the game at 78 and forced overtime.

Ejiofor started off the extra frame with a mid-range jumper and after Xavier tied the scoreline, the Johnnies buried five straight free-throws to take an 85-80 lead. The Musketeers brought it to a one possession game, 85-82, before a Sellers dunk in transition with seven seconds remaining sealed the victory.

St. John's will return to the hardwood on Saturday visits Providence for a 1 p.m. tip-off in the Ocean State.