The St. John’s men’s basketball team, ranked No. 22/20, secured a 79-66 win over DePaul in its BIG EAST opener at Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday. With this result, the Red Storm improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play, marking their fifth consecutive victory in conference openers.
St. John’s maintained a double-digit lead for much of the game, thanks to balanced scoring and strong bench contributions. The team outscored DePaul’s bench by a wide margin, posting a 32-4 advantage. This win also extended St. John’s home winning streak at Carnesecca Arena to 18 games during the Rick Pitino era, with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points per game.
Dylan Darling led the Red Storm with a season-high 17 points in his first BIG EAST appearance, shooting efficiently from both the field and beyond the arc while collecting six rebounds. Joson Sanon added 15 points and matched his career highs with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Zuby Ejiofor contributed defensively with four blocks, continuing his recent stretch of rim protection that has seen him tally 20 blocks over three games—a mark not seen since Chris Obekpa recorded similar numbers in November 2013 for St. John’s. Ejiofor also scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Ian Jackson reached double figures for the second straight game with ten points, while Ruben Prey went perfect from the floor for nine points and Dillon Mitchell collected eight rebounds.
St. John’s made ten three-pointers on just over 45 percent shooting from long range and shot above eighty percent from the free throw line for the second consecutive contest.
DePaul was led by Kaleb Banks who finished with a game-high nineteen points and ten rebounds.
The Red Storm opened strongly after Joson Sanon’s off-balance three-pointer triggered an early run before DePaul responded to tie it up briefly in the first half. Key baskets from Darling and Prey restored momentum as St. John’s built its lead into double digits before halftime.
In the second half, St. John’s continued its effective perimeter shooting to maintain control despite efforts by DePaul to close the gap through CJ Gunn’s contributions at key moments.
Oziyah Sellers’ late three-pointer capped another surge that put St. John’s ahead by seventeen as they closed out their first league win while aiming to defend their BIG EAST Regular Season Championship title.
Next up for St. John’s is a matchup against Kentucky in Atlanta as part of the CBS Sports Classic scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
