Sellers Leads St. John's Past Marquette

 

Oziyah Sellers draining a three-pointer that put St. John's up 53-42 at the 13:19 mark of the second half. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm notched their third straight win on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, as they rolled past Marquette, 92-68.

St. John's is now 12-5 on the season, including 5-1 in Big East Conference play, while Marquette is off to an uncharacteristically poor start, as they are 6-12 overall and 1-6 in the Big East.

Oziyah Sellers led the way for St. John's with 24 points on 9-16 shooting, including 4-9 on three-pointers, with two rebounds and two assists. 

Zuby Ejiofor had 22 points (8-11 FG), seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal.

The interesting thing about their performances is that Sellers had 15 points in the first half, and Ejiofor had 15 in the second.

Bryce Hopkins, who was honored before the game for notching 1,000 points in his college career, had 12 points (4-8 FG), eight rebounds, and three assists.

St. John's set the tone early, as they raced out to a 9-2 lead in the first 92 seconds, or 1:32. They led by as many as 11 at multiple points in the first half, with Marquette pulling as close as four, but the Red Storm took a 40-34 lead into the break.

The second half was all St. John's, as they maintained a 10-to-13-point edge, and then had a massive run to put the game away.

St. John's led by 10, at 47-47 at the 11:12 mark, and went on a 13-0 run capped by a Dillon Mitchell slam dunk at the 7:26 mark.

That put them ahead by 23, at 70-47, and they led by as many as 24 points, including the final score.

In the second half, St. John's put up 52 points, and they shot 52.8 percent from the field, or 19-38. For the game, they shot 50.8 percent (33-65) and 26.3% from behind the arc, or 5-19.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: "I always judge coaches and teams by when adversity hits and they're down, how hard do they play? I'm so impressed with Shaka (Smart) and Marquette. To have the struggles they've had, to be so young and inexperienced and still play that hard, we were challenged offensively on every possession. We did a lot of good things, but I'm super impressed with Marquette."

On respecting Marquette's effort: "To be so young, so inexperienced and to play that hard is a tribute to understanding what Marquette is all about. Congratulations to them, they'll get better, and they're an impressive group."

On Dylan Darling and Dillon Mitchell's impact: "I thought Dylan Darling turned the game around for us with incredible hustle. (Dillon) have us a big lift because it's another guard in the game for us as a point-forward, and that's a big thing for us right now."

On Oziyah Sellers' performance: "I thought Oziyah from beginning to end was great. He's constantly moving and he's in great shape."

On effort plays setting the tone: "One of the best plays I've seen all year was when Zuby dove after the ball and beat them to it. That was an incredible play, one of the best plays of the season for us."