St. John’s to Clash With UConn in BIG EAST Championship Game on Saturday Night

Saturday, March 14

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

6:30 p.m.

St. John's University

UConn

St. John’s to Clash With UConn in BIG EAST Championship Game on Saturday Night

3/14/2026 12:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm and Huskies will meet in the BIG EAST title game for the third time

NEW YORK – The top-seeded St. John's men's basketball team will play for the fifth BIG EAST Tournament Championship in the program's history on Saturday night when it squares off with second-seeded UConn on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. on FOX with Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and Allison Wiliams on the call from Midtown. John Minko and Brandon Tierney will handle broadcasting duties on the LEARFIELD Red Storm Sports Network, available on 1050 AM, the ESPN New York app, the Varsity Network app, TuneIn, the SiriusXM app and the St. John's Red Storm app. A national radio broadcast on Westwood One will also be available on Sirius XM 84 featuring Scott Graham and P.J. Carlesimo.

The Red Storm (27-6) will look to win back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament Championships for the first time in program history. A charter BIG EAST member, the Johnnies have won four BIG EAST Tournament titles (1983, 1986, 2000, 2025). St. John's will make its seventh appearance all-time in the conference championship game; the Johnnies finished as runners-up in both 1985 and 1999.

St. John's and Connecticut will meet for the eighth time in the BIG EAST Tournament and the third time in the event's championship tilt. The Red Storm and Huskies have each won one title against the other, as UConn defeated St. John's in 1999 before the Johnnies returned the favor in 2000. Overall, St. John's is 4-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament against Connecticut.

The Red Storm won its 2,000^th game in program history on Friday night, defeating Seton Hall, 78-68, in the tournament's semifinals. Zuby Ejiofor scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, grabbed five boards and blocked two shots. Dating back to last season's semifinal, it was Ejiofor's fourth straight 20-point outing in the event. He is the first player to register four straight efforts of 20-plus points in the BIG EAST Tournament since Kemba Walker in 2011.

Joson Sanon connected on three of his five 3-point attempts, finishing one off his season high with 15 points. Bryce Hopkins chipped in 13 points and seven boards for the Johnnies, who won their 18^th game in their last 19 tries. Dillon Mitchell tallied 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and no turnovers in 36 minutes against the Pirates.

The Red Storm, which is now 10-1 all-time as the tournament's top seed, is riding the program's first-ever five-game BIG EAST Tournament winning streak.

UConn (29-4) defeated Georgetown, 67-51, on Friday night to punch its ticket to the championship game. Braylon Mullins scored a game-high 21 points for the Huskies.

St. John's and UConn split the regular season series, as the Red Storm took down the Huskies at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6 before UConn defeated the Johnnies in Hartford on Feb. 25.

St. John's clinched the tournament's top seed after claiming its second consecutive outright BIG EAST Regular Season Championship. The Red Storm has won seven regular season titles in its history, three of which have been outright crowns.