St. John’s men’s basketball team, ranked No. 17/16, secured a 76-70 win over Marquette at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night. This victory marks the team’s 12th consecutive win, tying the program’s longest streak since starting the 2018-19 season with a similar run. The current winning streak is now the third longest active in NCAA Division I.
With this result and UConn’s loss to Creighton, St. John’s (21-5, 14-1 BIG EAST) now holds sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST standings. The team has also improved its road record to 8-0 for the season, which is its best start away from home since the 1928-29 season when St. John’s won ten straight games under coach James “Buck” Freeman.
Graduate student Bryce Hopkins led St. John’s with 23 points and 10 rebounds, shooting efficiently from both the field and free throw line. His point total was his highest since scoring a season-high against Baylor earlier in November. Oziyah Sellers added 12 points for his fourth double-digit game in five outings, while Zuby Ejiofor contributed 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks—his fifteenth double-digit scoring performance in his last sixteen appearances.
For Marquette, freshman Nigel James Jr., who has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week three times, led all scorers with 25 points on strong shooting.
The game began with Ian Jackson hitting a three-pointer for St. John’s before Joson Sanon extended their early lead with a fastbreak dunk. After an early tie at 11 points each, St. John’s went on an 11-2 run capped by a Sellers three-pointer to take control of the first half.
Marquette closed the gap late in the first half but Lefteris Liotopoulos scored seven straight points for St. John’s as they built their lead back up before halftime at 44-35.
In the second half, Marquette put together an 11-0 run to briefly take their first lead since early in the game before Ejiofor tied it up again for St. John’s with about fifteen minutes left to play. Marquette would push ahead by six before Hopkins sparked a pivotal stretch for St. John’s that included nine unanswered points and ultimately gave them back control of the game.
With less than four minutes remaining and holding a seven-point advantage, St. John’s saw Marquette cut into their lead once more as James Jr.’s three-point play brought it within two points with under thirty seconds left. However, free throws from Ejiofor and Hopkins secured the Red Storm’s win—their first time winning consecutive games in Milwaukee since the mid-2010s.
St. John’s will next face Creighton at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
St. John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball participates in the Big East Conference and plays home games in Queens, New York (official website). The program has claimed six Big East Tournament championships and two NIT titles (official website). The team adopted “Red Storm” as its athletics nickname (official website).
