Zuby Ejiofor dominated UConn Friday as St. John’s shook off challenge and prevailed over No. 3 Huskies. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)
Or so it thought.
The ten-point lead soon became five. Then two, then one. Still, the Red Storm refused to break. A capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden only served to amplify the steel will of its resident team.
When the dust settled on an 81-72 victory over third-ranked UConn, a catharsis not seen since St. John’s Big East championship triumph in this building eleven months prior ensued. The exact machinations behind the outpouring were obscure in the heat of the moment, but the emotion was tangible.
“I can’t really remember what was done or what was said,” Zuby Ejiofor remarked after another legacy-defining game in a Broadway career full of them. “I just let it all out. The moment the buzzer sounded and it was over, all the emotions really just flew out.”
Ejiofor tallied 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists Friday, seemingly sealing the game with five straight points to extend the Johnnies’ lead to 11 points late in the second half before a 14-4 Husky run. The senior made up for it down the stretch, when after a Dylan Darling three restored the lead to a two-possession margin, he muscled his way through the paint for a hook shot to balloon the Red Storm advantage to seven points, at 74-67, thereby icing the outcome.
“You know, you’re gonna make me retire,” Pitino quipped to his senior captain, “because I’m not living life without you.”
Many had circled Friday’s clash of Big East titans the moment the conference schedule was released, with St. John’s and UConn both harboring championship aspirations and the personnel to make them a reality. For the Johnnies, a lackluster non-conference showing and deflating loss to Providence a month ago forged a diamond. On the UConn side, the Huskies carried an 18-game win streak into an atmosphere that has become almost like a third home venue to the program.
On most nights, but not this one.
“I looked around during the (national) anthem and I saw a lot of red,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley shared. “It felt like a real road game.”
St. John’s fed off the lathered-up surroundings, and a poignant, yet intelligent message from its veteran leader.
“My message before the game was, ‘you just gotta have no fear of failure,’” Pitino recounted. “We’re definitely gonna win this. If (UConn) cut it to two, no fear of failure. And these guys just responded in a great way.”
“A lot of emotions go through the night, just playing hard and hearing the fans, and trying to give it everything we’ve got,” senior forward Dillon Mitchell said. “But we kept saying (in) every huddle, ‘stay solid.’ Don’t let the emotions take over.”
As UConn pulled closer behind the valiant exploits of Silas Demary, Jr. and Alex Karaban, it was Ejiofor guiding his team through the terrain, undaunted, unfazed.
“Zuby, in every single timeout, said, ‘we got three minutes, we got four minutes,’” a proud Pitino said. “Whether we go up 12, they cut it to two, we have no fear. We’re gonna win this game.”
“I showed them both Providence games (against UConn) of losing a lead and how good they can be with that three-point shot. So we were honed in, every single play was honed in.”
St. John’s (18-5, 11-1 Big East) harkened back to last season en route to its ninth straight victory, bullying UConn into 15 turnovers and using its impressive physicality to boast a commanding 31-12 disparity in free throw attempts that left a defeated Hurley no other recourse to tip his hat to the three-pronged front line of Ejiofor, Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins.
“They’re grown-ass men,” he said of the forwards. “They’re built for Big East games. You’ve gotta be in great shape to do what they do. It disrupts your ability to get into what you want to do offensively.”
“I could see our focus going into this game,” Mitchell said. “Just our focus the past couple days in the film room, on the court, the focus we’ve had the past couple days, I could tell that all the guys were locked in.”
The laser-like focus revealed itself again when Ejiofor and Mitchell were asked about Friday’s conditions giving way to heightened stakes in the return match with UConn later this month in Hartford. Their coach would have none of it.
“We’re worried about Xavier,” Pitino interjected.
St. John’s has a chance to move into a share of the conference lead if it can get past Xavier Monday night, and will assuredly have the same groundswell of crowd support that spurred it on Friday. The Red Storm has embraced its relentlessness, but is once again falling in love with the adoration of a fan base that has its back regardless of the result.
“They’re into it every second of the game,” Mitchell said of the St. John’s fans. “You hear them. They’re loud, they’re supporting. We pick off a lot on that. We play hard, not only for the fans, but for us. It’s exciting to hear it, it’s definitely different. It’s something that I’m blessed to be a part of.”
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