No. 17 St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball team secured an 87-82 overtime win against Xavier at Madison Square Garden on Monday, marking its 10th consecutive victory. The game was closely contested, featuring 15 ties and 15 lead changes, with neither team leading by more than five points throughout the night.
The Red Storm improved to a 19-5 overall record and a 12-1 mark in the Big East Conference. This winning streak is now tied for the second longest in the program’s Big East history, matching last year’s start and trailing only the 1984-85 season when St. John’s began conference play with 14 straight wins.
With this win, head coach Rick Pitino moved into sole possession of third place on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball all-time wins list with his 904th victory, surpassing Roy Williams. Only Jim Boeheim (1,112) and Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) have more career wins.
Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s with a game-high 25 points on efficient shooting (8-of-11), adding seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Earlier in the day, Ejiofor was named NCAA March Madness National Player of the Week.
Graduate forward Bryce Hopkins contributed 19 points—making nine out of eleven free throws—and collected nine rebounds while drawing nine fouls. Dylan Darling added 16 points and four assists, while Dillon Mitchell recorded a game-best 12 rebounds.
Xavier (12-12, 4-9 Big East) was led by Tre Carroll’s 21 points. The Musketeers kept their turnovers low at just nine for the game.
St. John’s made frequent trips to the free throw line during regulation and overtime, shooting 28-for-41 over the course of the contest—the most attempts for the program since November 9, 2011.
After falling behind midway through the first half due to a Xavier scoring run, St. John’s regained momentum as Darling scored six straight points to reclaim a narrow lead before halftime ended tied at 42 after Isaiah Walker hit a three-pointer for Xavier in the final second.
In the second half and overtime period, both teams exchanged leads multiple times. Oziyah Sellers’ tip-in with sixteen seconds left forced overtime after three offensive rebounds by St. John’s on that possession. In overtime, Ejiofor opened scoring before St. John’s made five consecutive free throws to build an advantage that held up until Sellers’ dunk sealed victory with seven seconds remaining.
St. John’s will next play Providence on Saturday in Rhode Island at 1 p.m.
The Red Storm men’s basketball team operates from Queens, New York and participates in the Big East Conference under its Red Storm nickname as part of St. John’s University athletics (official website). The team has won six Big East Tournament championships and two NIT titles according to its official website.
