New York, NY — Behind a historic night from Zuby Ejiofor, No. 15 St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball team overwhelmed the Villanova Wildcats men’s basketball team 89-57 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, responding emphatically to a lopsided loss earlier in the week.
Ejiofor delivered the first triple-double of his career, finishing with 16 points, 12 boards, and 10 assists while also swatting three shots. The dominant all-around performance marked just the fifth triple-double for St. John’s since the 1985-86 season and helped the Red Storm (23-6, 16-2) stay within a half-game of No. 6 UConn Huskies men’s basketball team atop the Big East Conference standings.
St. John’s wasted little time taking control, exploding to a 30-point advantage before halftime. The Red Storm’s relentless defense and transition offense left Villanova scrambling, as the Wildcats endured their lowest-scoring outing of the season and their most one-sided defeat in decades.
Ian Jackson sparked the rout off the bench with 19 points and a career-best five steals, while Oziyah Sellers added 14 in what became St. John’s largest margin of victory ever against Villanova — its most-played opponent. The longtime rivals have met since the 1909-10 season, with St. John’s now holding a narrow edge in the all-time series.
The bounce-back performance came just days after St. John’s suffered a 72-40 setback at UConn, snapping a 13-game winning streak — the program’s longest in more than four decades. That loss marked the most decisive defeat in three seasons under head coach Rick Pitino, who once again donned his signature all-white suit for the team’s annual “White Out” game.
Villanova (22-7, 13-5), which had won seven of its previous eight contests, was led by Duke Brennan’s 12 points, 10 of which came after halftime. The Wildcats also lost starting forward Matt Hodge to a right leg injury early in the second half, and head coach Kevin Willard said afterward there was no immediate update on his status.
Up Next:
Villanova travels to face the DePaul Blue Demons men’s basketball team on Wednesday night, while St. John’s returns to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to host the Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball team in its regular-season home finale.
