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| St. John's players race out from the bench when the winning basket when in. @StJohnsBball. |
The St. John's Red Storm earned a thrilling win on Friday night at Providence, 72-70, on a buzzer-beater by Zuby Ejiofor after he snagged an offensive rebound.
St. John's is now 2-0 in Big East Conference play, and 10-2 overall as they head into the Christmas break.
Providence came out firing in this one, as they raced out to a sixteen-point lead, 40-24, on an Oswin Erhumwunse dunk with 1:37 left in the first half.
The Friars led 42-29 at halftime, after shooting an astonishing 63 percent (17-27) from the field, including 54.4 percent (6-11) on three-pointers. St. John's, aside from Tuesday night against DePaul, is usually a team that starts slowly, and they shot just 35.1 percent (13-37) and 11.1 % (1-9) from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
St. John's opened the second half with a quick 7-2 run to pull within eight at the 16:40 mark, and a Jaiden Glover three-pointer at 12:38 made it 52-47 Friars.
Zuby Ejiofor put the Red Storm ahead, 60-58, when he had a layup with 7:14 remaining. That lead built up to five, at 68-63, when he drained a free throw at 2:05.
Providence responded with a 7-2 run, as they tied it on a three-pointer from the right side of the arc by Bensley Joseph with 20 seconds remaining.
St. John's took their time on the ensuing possession, and Deivon Smith put up a jumper that rimmed out, and Ejiofor was Johnny on the spot as he snagged the rebound.
Ejiofor then took one step to his right before putting up the shot with just under a second left, and it went in just as the clock hit zero, giving St. John's the crucial 72-70 win.
St. John's was led by Ejiofor, who had 19 points - 12 in the second half - on 7-14 shooting, 0-2 on three-pointers, and 5-12 from the free throw line, with 10 rebounds to give him a double-double. Interesting to note his +/- (how many points St. John's scored compared to Providence when he was on the court) was +2, essentially his game-winning basket.
Deivon Smith had 17 points (10 in the second half) on 8-15 from the field, and 1-2 on threes, with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
RJ Luis Jr. had 16 points (11 in the final 20 minutes) on 5-13 shooting, including 0-4 on threes, with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Kadary Richmond had 10 points (5-11 FG), with five rebounds, three steals, and an assist.
Providence was led by Bensley Joseph, who had 17 points on 7-13 shooting, including 3-7 on threes, with either rebounds, and two assists. Jayden Pierre had 16 points (4-11 FG, 2-7 threes), with five rebounds and an assist.
PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement on free throws: “If you go 11-for-26 from the line, you are supposed to lose the game. We could have won it comfortably if we made them, but we didn’t. We wanted the tough win.”
On Zuby Ejiofor and Aaron Scott: “Zuby [Ejiofor’s] a monster, always has been. Aaron [Scott] made two big plays, the offensive rebound, diving on the floor and making the steal. Two big plays on defense. We're not built like Providence to make threes like they do. We’re built to stop people and grab rebounds.”
On his team’s turnaround: “I told the guys in one timeout, ‘This is nothing. I've been down 30 points with 15:30 to go on the road. It's nothing. You're going to come back and win this game. Just be patient, take your time, one possession at a time.”
On what he said at halftime: “We feel that we're turning the corner in a lot of areas. But all I talked about at halftime was you guys got to know how to handle adversity in life. You got to stop getting down about a missed free throw. Stop getting down about a missed shot. This is the road and the road is tough to win on. So, give them credit, they played a great half and won the game.”
On Billy Donovan, who played for Pitino at Providence, being named a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee: “Billy [Donovan] is like a son to me. He deserves to be up in that rafter. There are only two Final Fours in the history of [Providence]. Billy carried our basketball team. Without Billy the Kid, those dreams can't come true, so he deserves it. There are only eight coaches in the history of the game that have won back-to-back championships, and as a player, he played in the Final Four. Naismith [Memorial Basketball] Hall of Fame is calling and I couldn't be any happier.”
On his team’s improvements: “I think they're mentally maturing. I think three weeks ago, with missing all those free throws, all those shots, we lose by 12 to 16 points. But they're maturing mentally and getting tougher because, tonight, we didn't have it offensively. We weren't doing many good things and they still found a way to win on the road in a tough environment.”
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