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Oh Darling! It’s Sweet 16 for Johnnies

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SAN DIEGO – (Staff and Wire Report) – Oh! Darling! Please believe me.

St, John’s is leaving Southern California with a victory and are heading to the District to face Duke in the East Regional semifinals. Red blood out for blue blood.

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The winner of that game faces either Michigan State or UConn/UCLA.

Johnnies’ point guard Dylan Darling’s first points of East Region No. 5 seed St. John’s 67-65, second-round NCAA Tournament win over fourth-seeded Kansas on Sunday came as the buzzer sounded, sending the Red Storm to their first Sweet 16 since 1999.

St. John’s (30-6) never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 14 points before the Jayhawks (24-11), behind Darryn Peterson’s 21-point effort, rallied to force a 65-65 tie.

Peterson sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining and Kansas — having been called for only two personal fouls in the second half — disrupted the Red Storm’s attempts to run a final play with intentional whistles.

But after exhausting its fourth straight foul near midcourt and with less than four seconds remaining, the Jayhawks defense broke down as Darling attacked the middle of the floor of the inbounds pass.

Zero-for-four from the floor before the buzzer-beating layup, Darling dribbled through a seam and laid the decisive basket off the glass to thunderous cheers from the St, John’s crowd at Viejas Arena.

Both offenses struggled to establish much rhythm throughout Sunday’s contest, with St. John’s scoring 14.5 points fewer than its season-long average of 81.5 per game, and Kansas finishing with 10.4 points fewer than its output.

The Red Storm shot just 25 of 69 (36.2%) from the floor, while the Jayhawks went 24 of 54 (44.4%). One difference for St. John’s was its 3-point shooting — specifically, Bryce Hopkins’ 3-point shooting.

Hopkins scored a team-high 18 points, all on 6-of-9 shooting from long range. The rest of the Red Storm went 5 of 26 from deep.

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Peterson shot 3 of 8 from beyond the arc for Kansas, but the rest of the Kansas lineup combined for just two triples.

Former Jayhawk Zuby Ejiofor matched Hopkins’ team-high with 18 points and matched the game-high with nine rebounds. Ejiofor delivered some crucial plays in the final five minutes, including scoring off of an offensive rebound and taking a steal from Peterson the other way for a bucket on the very next possession.

With Sunday’s victory, St. John’s reached 30 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 15

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St. John’s Wins Second Consecutive Big East Title

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – What – on Earth – did we do before we had the annual BIG EAST basketball tournament? Well, I’m old enough to remember being at the Nassau Coliseum, watching St. John’s compete against the likes of Iona (1978-79) or the Wagner College Seahawks, coached by P.J. Carlesimo for an ECAC tournament bid a year before the BIG EAST became reality in 1979-80.

This year marked the 46th annual BIG EAST. I think I’ve only missed one year (terrible food poisoning in 2003).

Let me try to do a short flashback of most memorable players or moments:

  1. 2009, Six Overtimes – Syracuse outlasted Georgetown (127-117) in a game that began on March 12, 2009 and ended on March 13 – a four hour battle royale.
  2. 2020, COVID-19 – St. John’s, having won the night before, was up 38-35 at the half, when the great BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman called off the game and the tournament on the advice of New York City authorities. It was the eeriest atmosphere for any game in the history of Madison Square Garden. Put it this way, they even “closed the bars.”
  3. 1986, Pearl Washington – Although his Syracuse team fell short in the final, there’s never been a more amazing and entertaining show at the BIG EAST than Pearl Washington in ‘86, although Pearl put up 27 points in a 1984 final round loss to Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown Hoyas.
  4. 1984-85, Georgetown – For two+ years, Patrick Ewing and his Hoyas dominated the BIG EAST. Ewing is – by far – the greatest player in conference tournament history.
  5. 2017-18-2019, Villanova – Coach Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats took over Madison Square Garden for three solid seasons.
  6. All years, The Coaches – Highlighted by St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca and Georgetown’s Big John Thompson, the cast of characters (and tremendous coaches, all around) deserve mention. Villanova’s Rollie Massimino, Seton Hall’s P.J. Carlesimo, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino’s years at Providence (and Louisville, and now St. John’s), Boston College’s Al Skinner, UConn’s Jim Calhoun, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Villanova’s Jay Wright, Providence (and now Georgetown’s) Ed Cooley, a face-off between St. John’s legend Chris Mullin and Georgetown’s incomparable Patrick Ewing who both returd to coach their alma maters, however unsuccessfully), and now Danny Hurley of UConn.
  7. Many years, UConn Greatness – At the risk of leaving someone off the list, let’s remember Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Richard Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin, Kemba Walker, Caron Butler, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Rudy Gay, Alex Karaban, and I’ll stop at Stephon Castle. Just incredible.
  8. 2025, and St. John’s Coach Pitino – It took St. John’s 25 years – from 2000 to 2025 – to win the BIG EAST Tournament title. You have to give credit to coach Rick Pitino for pulling off the feat.
  9. Syracuse, 1981 and 2006 – Aside from Pearl Washington’s incredible performances, the Syracuse Orange won in 1981 over Villanova (remember John Pinone?) on a Leo Rautins tip-in and some last second free throws after Nova Coach Rollie Massimino called time-out when he’d run down to zero left. Then, in 2006, Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara single-handedly willed his team to victory after vistory after the Orange had lost nine of their last 13 regular season games.
  10. The Garden, every year since 1983 – After fooling around in Providence (1980), the Carrier Dome in Syracuse (1981) and the Hartford Civic Center in 1982, the BIG EAST made – with no argument at all – the greatest move in conference history by establishing a longterm agreement for Madison Square Garden to host the annual tournament. With NYC being the center of the sports media world while also being squarely in the middle of the heavily northeast member schools (call it Boston to DC for the most part – all Amtrak connections), the BIG EAST jumped on the World’s Most Famous Arena and The Garden has paid it back 100-times over and over and over. There is no better college bsaketball tournament, no better venue and no better place for teams, players, coaches, media, alum, fans and TV than a packed house at Madison Square Garden – the Mecca of College basketball.

*Special mention must be made as a tribute to the late Dave Gavitt, the founder of the BIG EAST, and his successors, Michael Tranghese, the late John Marinatto, Mike Aresco and, now the best of ‘em all in Val Ackerman, the incredible Commissioner of the conference which is known for basketball (men’s and women’s), but checks every box in terms of top notch inter-collegiate athletics.

**There’s also a special very, very special honorable mention for 1985, when the BIG EAST sent three teams to the NCAA Final Four in Lexington, Kentucky and Ed Pinckney and the Villanova Wildcats upset Georgetown in the final, one of the greatest games in college basketball history. Chris Mullin and St. John’s were eliminated by Georgetown on Final Four Saturday when 30-minutes before the tip-off of that game, an earbud breaking chant of “Anybody but Georgetown, Anybody but Georgetown” rang out.

The 2025-26 BIG EAST standings when the week began (ESPN)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: There’s no better way to recap the 2026 BIG EAST championship and five days at Madison Square Garden than with a popular WWYI timeline. We’ll have to see if the week merits a special song for Parting Words & Music.

Here We Go:

Tuesday, March 10, 2026: Travel Day

10:14am – Amtrak, Southbound to Penn Station/Moynahan Terminal: One of the easiest trips of all-time. It’s affordable and efficient, arriving right under The Garden where I’ll be spending an amazing number of hours. Plus, the top half of this column was written on the train ride (and, yes, off the top of my head- fact checkers be damned).

It always strikes me, tourists come from all over the world to experience New York City. They visit Lincoln Center, Broadway, see all the sites. Meanwhile, I stay within a four-block radius of Penn Station and Madison Square Garden for five days, and, as Maxwell Smart said so well, “And, loving it.”

1:01pm – Check-in with my wonderful sister-in-law, APM, and all is well. For one night, I’ll be crashing at the apartment of APM and WBG and a chance to see my niece and her dog, Cosmo. – Also checked with my brother-in-law, WBG, who was so kind in nailing two tickets to see the great Tedeschi-Trucks Band at The Beacon Theatre tonight – thus the early travel day.

6:00pm – Planned a meet-up at Dive 75, an old favorite where we once surprised the great Kevin Sullivan by walking from The Beek to the bar after an Allman Brothers Band show, only for him to discover and be astonished that Derek Trucks and the whole band (minus Gregg Allman) was there. Sully held court with the band and merch guys, telling stories about traveling on Air Force One with President George W. Bush, as Kevin was the President’s Director of Communications.

7:45pm – After a quick beer at Dive 75, it was short walk to Paradise and one of my favorite places in NYC in The Beek. The rest of the night belonged to TTB for their residence in one of the world’s great venues (Beacon Theatre – 74/755th/Broadway) – The Tedeschi Trucks Band is the best touring band in the world.

7:46pm – The Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage at the sold out Beacon. They did not disappoint. Here is the set they played. Click HERE.

11:45pm – Smart move, starting the week off, and turned in “early.”

Wednesday, March 11: (New York City)

8:00am – A good night’s sleep and a short walk to a fave Dunkin’ and it was “New York, just like I pictured it.”

8:30am-12 Noon – Took opportunity to gather content, information, great photos and built out the entire evening’s BIG EAST competition previews.

3:00pm – Check-in at MSG and, as usual, the buttoned-down Big East staff had everything in order. Easy security check and two seconds to get my credentials, lovely Courtside, Row 6 on the Seventh Avenue baseline. That’s the same EXACT seat occupied for about five straight years. (Yes, I did thank the staff and after all these years, and it felt like this tournament was my first one. I take nothing for granted). By the way, the first one was the 1970 NIT when Marquette beat St. John’s in the final, 65-53, and Dean Meminger was the MVP. Meminger was later draft and starred for the New York Knicks 1973 championship team. I was 10.

4:00pm – In the 2026 BIG EAST tournament opener, No. 8 seed Butler took on #9 Providence. The Friars handled Butler, 91-81, and played hard for coach Kim English who was facing the firing squad quad from Providence athletics.

6:30pm – In closest game of day, Xavier edged Marquette, 89-87. Neither team impressed, and that is reason the Big East Conference might only send two or, possibly, three teams to the NCAAs.

9:00pm – In the nightcap, fans were witness to the low No. 11 seed Georgetown Hoyas upsetting No. 6 DePaul, 63-56. This game was the first to tip the scales towards an “old skool” – “OG” – BIG EAST tourney.

Georgetown vs. Villanova | The Battle of the Patagonia Vests.

Thursday, March 12: (NYC, Madison Square Garden – all day and night)

10:30am – After a decent night’s sleep and a good Marriott provided breakfast, it was an easy walk to The Garden from 28th Street & 7th Ave to the press entrance at Tower Bridge (31st and 8th Ave). Our spring-like weather Tuesday, in the 70s, turned to 36 degrees, cold and breezy.

12 Noon – St. John’s handled a determined and energetic Providence team, 85-72. The rumor mill since mid-season was the final 2026 Providence game would be coach Kim English’s last with the Friars. That came true on Friday, as Mid-term report cards reached home and every single student at the college dropped English.

2:30pm – No. 4 Seton Hall and No. 5 Creighton enjoyed byes and opened their tournament efforts with a highly contested, typical, physical BIG EAST game. The Jersey side Hall sent Creighton packing and flying back to Omaha, 72-61.

That set-up a Seton Hall vs St. John’s Friday semi-final.

One personal note was that I was able to spend some quality time with my brother (Wednesday evening and Thursday’s night session) and with my NBA colleague Matt Winick for the St. John’s vs Providence game. It’s now a nice, little tradition to join Matt for a couple of the Thursday games. Please note, as he was the person who interviewed me for an internship at the NBA on December 20, 1980. Sometimes, I think what might’ve been if Matt ditched my resume into the circular file. Sheesh.

7:00pm – The night session was packed with the UConn faithful, an incredible sight that was noticeably missing when Connecticut stuck with the football side of the BIG EAST and decided to play in the American Conference where they’d be hanging in Birmingham, Alabama instead of the World’s Most Famous Arena. UConn dominated Xavier, 93-68.

9:30pm – The Late Show featured the “old skool” match-up of Georgetown vs. Villanova, aka the “Battle of the Patagonia Vests.” Of course, many think of one of the greatest college basketball upsets ever when ‘Nova defeated Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas at the Final Four (championship game) in Lexington, Kentucky in 1985. (Yes, I witnessed it in person). On this night, No. 11 Georgetown sent Villanova to the Moynihan Amtrak Terminal and the late departing Crescent to New Orleans with stops at Metro Park, Newark, and to 30th Street Station. Georgetown advanced, 78-64, holding off several Villanova attempts to comeback. Georgetown’s Malik Mack played 37 minutes and orchestrated the Georgetown offense while scoring 12 points on a night he did not shoot the ball well (4-for-15). Teammate Julius Halaifonua (Go ahead, say that three times, fast) had 21 points and 10 rebounds, (on 9-for-12 shooting).

Upon very late night departure, WWYI caught the end of OKC’s 104-102 win over the Boston Celtics on TV.

Friday, March 13 (New York City):

Once again, it was some coffee and a Marriott provided breakfast in the hotel restaurant area where French, Spanish, German and Japanese were the languages of tourists visiting NYC. They sight-see, go to Lincoln Center, and Broadway. I prefer staying in a four block radius of Madison Square Garden.

Early AM Hours – Plenty of time to write, catch-up on emails and our NBA Basketball School Turkiye online site. Then, quality time watching The PLAYERS Championship on Golf Channel.

3:30pm – It’s Time.

3:45pm – Proceeded right to my press seat at The Garden and settled in nicely to a mostly empty building.

4:00pm – Early arrival at MSG provides a glimpse of the night ahead, as game ops rehearses national anthem, some introductions, and other event-related rituals. The Garden’s sound system is tremendous, and we went from the late Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead doing Playing in the Band to Nipsey Hussle doing Reckless to Emerson, Lake and Palmer doing Karn Evil 9, First Impression.

5:30pm – The ball is tipped and St. John’s vs. Seton Hall is on. The Johnnies hold Seton Hall scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and take an early 8-0 lead before Pirates’ coach Shaheen Holloway calls time-out to talk things over. St. John’s scored each of its first four FGs inside, while controlling the boards early (6-2 in rebounds). Seton Hall subbed out four players, sort of like taking four cards after the initial deal in poker, eh?

5:45pm – The Hall Strikes Back. It’s 10-7 by the 15:00 minute media time-out. Lotta basketball and – for this timeline, it’s only going to be the KEY moments going forward as opposed to a running story.

6:45pm – St. John’s led Seton Hall, 38-30, at the half. Stat sheet showed a very even game all-around with Red having a slight rebounding edge, 17-13. St John’s guard Dylan Darling logged 13 of the first 20 minutes and got to every loose ball. The coaches call them the 50-50 balls, but Darling somehow comes up with the 25-75 balls when his opponent has the edge. Amazing player, but is struggling with his shot in this tournament.

6:58pm – St, John’s came out for the second half with an impressive 9-0 run, (to make it 47-30), and Holloway was forced to call a time out to regroup (again). As the second half progressed, Seton Hall made a number of runs to cut the lead to six points with 4:41 remaining, but SJU scored six straight points, to eventually close it out at 78-68.

Afterward, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino met with the media: “We bent a little bit down the stretch after playing great basketball, but we never broke, and Seton Hall breaks everybody,” he said. “They come back against everybody because of their intensity, So, I’m really proud of our guys. They made good defensive plays down the stretch. Certainly, when you can break pressure and make your free throws, you’re always going to have a great chance of maintaining your lead. So, [we] did a lot of good things tonight offensively. I thought we were excellent the entire night.”

8:00pm – The second game of the night pitted upstart Georgetown against No. 2 UConn, who had their loyal, faithful fans occupying 75% of the seats in Madison Square Garden.

UConn took care of business, just as expected, by a 67-51 score. UConn guard Braylon Mullins scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half to set the tone.

11:00pm – Not exactly a breaking news story, but a very noticeable change was quite evident upon exiting Madison Square Garden to “ZERO” ticket scalpers being outside on Seventh Avenue. Like Final Four Saturdays of yesteryear when scalpers sprinted across the arena to buy tickets from the team who lost the first game, the Garden would always be buzzing with “Who’s Selling” shout-outs after each game. In 2026, it’s all about Ticketmaster, StubHub, Seatgeek and the others. UConn fans seem to have the secondary market covered for the Big East final.

Saturday, March 14 (New York City):

Early AM Hours saw a check of The PLAYERS golf championship take top priority as PGA Tour Brunch waits for no man (or woman). If you’re a fan of pro golf, you should highly consider a subscription!

Tuesday’s 70-degrees have given way to 40-degrees and 30 mph wind gusts in Manhattan, ruining plans on CPW and a stroll to Strawberry Fields, an old fave from days of first apartment on West 74th Street.

3:30pm – The BIG EAST has advised us of a 3:30pm opening of the press gate, but your favorite columnist will tuck-in some additional time with The PLAYERS golf on TV until 4:30pm (two full hours before the tip on FOX TV).

The BIG EAST Championship has been televised by Peacock Network, FS-1, FOX, back to FS-1 and finally back to FOX for the title game.

4:30pm – A wind-blown, five minute walk to MSG and right to my Courtside seat.

5:05pm – Sound check for the National Anthem. When I hit St. Pete and the Pearly Gates, I want every minute that I’ve stood for National Anthems back on my side of the ledger. It would buy me another five years of life, easy.

A quick check online: Ticket-buyers are forking over $6,600-to-$4,900 for Courtside, $800 for seats in the Lower Bowl 100-sections, $327 for baseline lower bowl, and about $250 for Upper Level 200s. Get-in price seems to have settled at about $180 for 400s.

6:30pm – “The Ball is Tipped” to a raucous, sold-out crowd at The Garden. As noted, the UConn fans have mastered the use of the secondary ticket department and have 50% of the seats, unlike last season when St. John’s defeated Creighton in the final and Johnnies’ fans controlled 95% of the building. At tip-off time, it seems to be quite a 50-50 crowd and a lot of red. The neutral fans will jump on St. John’s bandwagon if they play well.

UConn fans are quite annoying, especially with the fact they all stand until their team scores the first basket. At this game, St. John’s fans are just choosing to stand and apply a very high level of pressure to UConn. It is working, as UConn is out of sorts.

6:33pm – Nothing compared to Willis Reed, as Zuby is not injured nor did he come out of locker late, but his first easy jumper swished just like the Knicks’ captain’s first two shots in 1970. St. John’s out to 10-2 start at first media timeout.

6:50pm – MSG (Pro St. John’s crowd) playing a major factor in this game. A frustrated UConn coach Danny Hurley took a T to rattle-up his crew. (23-9). Unless UConn can stop St. John’s players from driving right to the rim, it’s going to be interesting. UConn counters, a lot of physical play, shoving, swatting. (no calls which are correct calls).

7:29pm – Halftime shows the scoreboard to be St. John’s 40, UConn 27.

8:13pm – Ole ‘mo changed dramatically and UConn made its run to cut the lead for St John’s to seven (49-42) with 12:34 remaining in the second half. UConn fans woke up and building is rocking from both sides of the street. After time-out, St. John’s countered with a 5-0 run, including a Zuby 26-footer. A possession later, he hit a jump hook to put the lead back to 13 (56-43) with 10:07 remaining.

8:24pm – With 7:36 remaining, momentum swung back to UConn and they cut lead to 10 points. Pitino subbed in big man Ruben Prey to give Zuby a breather. Arena turned quiet for first time since National Anthem.

8:28pm – After an eternally long time out, UConn had possession and gathered four offensive rebounds of their missed shots. Dylan Darling of St. John’s scored down the other end and St. John’s regained the vibe, and fueled the crowd by taking a 61-49 lead. Darling drilled two subsequent free throws and St J lead went back to 62-49. UConn can’t get “over the hump” and they’ve resorted to tossing up 3s.

8:32pm – After struggling all tournament long, St. John’s guard Dylan Darling sinks his “J” to make it 65-49. Oziyah Sellers drills a 19-footer, Bryce Hopkins gets a feed and takes it to the rim to score and the St. John’s lead expands to 20 points, 69-49 with 3:26 remaining. The Garden rocks, louder than at anytime this week.

8:42pm – Zuby bucket – It’s 72-49, now an ass-kicking, as a St. John’s 24-8 run made the difference at a time when UConn was threatening.

8:45pm – St. John’s just walks it up, but turns the ball over. Next whistle, Pitino subs to get Zuby Ejiofor a massive standing ovation, a memory of a lifetime. This is his last game at The Garden as a collegian, but he’ll be back as a pro.

8:47pm – UConn shows a ton of class by inbounding and walking the ball to neutral territory to allow the clock to run out. Game Over. St. John’s 72-52. Boxscore HERE.

8:55pm – The BIG East Trophy presentation takes place on a court filled with fans as MSG security “let it go” and gave peace a chance. St. John’s Dillon Mitchell says, “This is OUR city.” (He left out one of David “Big Papi” Ortiz’ words.

The Empire State Building is now lit with Red Lights.

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9:00pm – Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and FOX talent Gus Johnson are with St. John’s Coach Rick Pitino at Center Court. Not a St. John’s fan has left The Garden.

Pitino got the Trophy, noting it was back-to-back Regular Season and Post Season titles, and Zuby got MVP. His teammates Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell made the All-Tournament team. And, a great Big East tradition, every member of the team and staff have their name announced as they accept a Big East medal.

9:13pm – St. John’s cuts down the nets at Madison Square garden, a dream of every basketball player in New York.

9:20pm – It’s time to sign off. Please excuse any typos, as this was done LIVE on site.

10:00pm – Your edition of TL’s Sunday Sports Notes is delivered, hot off the presses.

Sunday, March 15 (New York City to Boston)

9:00am – Amtrak home to Boston to be on couch with the annual NCAA Selection Show and a nice fire in fireplace.

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: This is a song played at The Garden to psych-up the crowd before the Friday night tip-off. It’s the classic “Karn Evil 9” from a circa ‘74 show clip by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, all 18:59 of it, complete with drum solo and their Moog synthesizer – a rare MUST WATCH is attached. Over the past two seasons at The Garden, St, John’s has “Put on a Show That Never Ends.”

While We’re Young (Ideas) is a weekly (every weekend) collection of Sports Notes and News written by Terry Lyons. The posting of each notebook harkens back to the days when you’d walk over to the city news stand on Saturday night around 10:00pm to pick-up a copy of the Sunday papers. Inside, just waiting, was a compilation of interesting sports notes, quotes and quips in a column that always sold a few newspapers. Wire Service reports are utilized within the column.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – Brought to you by Digital Sports Desk.

-TL-

The Battle for The Big East ’26

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NEW YORK – (staff and Wire Service Report) – Throughout the season, it seemed inevitable that Big East heavyweights St. John’s and UConn would meet to decide the conference tournament championship.

On Saturday night, the highly anticipated encounter will occur at what will be a packed Madison Square Garden when top-seeded St. John’s (27-6) and second-seeded UConn (29-4) square off for the third time this season.

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St. John’s forced 15 turnovers and saw Zuby Ejiofor total 21 points and 10 rebounds in an 81-72 home win over the Huskies on Feb. 6.

The Huskies rolled to a 72-40 win in Hartford on Feb. 25, when the Red Storm missed their final 24 shots and did not get a basket for the final 17 1/2 minutes.

“I just think both programs have really pushed each other the whole year,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said Friday. “We’re a 29-win team, they’re a 27-win team. Two of the best teams in the country.

UConn is ranked sixth in the nation and St. John’s is 13th.

“Obviously it’s going to be a death match for the Big East championship, but also, you know, both of us have really delivered for this league in a year where this league needs a game like this tomorrow night that everyone that’s a basketball fan’s going to be dialed into,” Hurley said. “So, yeah, it’s exciting. You knew there was going to be a third round, and here we are.”

St. John’s, which has won five games in a row, is attempting to win consecutive titles for the first time in school history. The Red Storm reached the championship game in back-to-back seasons in 1985 and 1986 and split title games with UConn in 1999 and 2000.

St. John’s is attempting to win its fifth title in seven tries and second since 2000 after earning an 82-66 victory over Creighton last year.

The only starter from the 2025 title game is Ejiofor, the Big East Player of the Year. He has 41 total points in the Red Storm’s tournament victories over Providence and Seton Hall. On Friday, in a 78-68 semifinal win over pesky Seton Hall, Ejiofor scored 20 points in a game in which St. John’s never trailed and led by as many as 19.

“We’re playing for a championship,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “We played for the regular season as if our life was on the line. We’re going to play tomorrow as if our life is on the line. Then we’ll worry about the (NCAA) tournament.”

The Red Storm advanced by getting key contributions from Joson Sanon, Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins. Sanon scored 15 off the bench, while Mitchell and Hopkins finished with 13 apiece and combined for 13 rebounds.

“For us new guys who weren’t part of the team last year, we want it just as bad, and we have the same type of chip on our shoulder, like we’re defending it like if we won it last year with them,” Mitchell said. “So it’s just about coming together, staying as one, going out there to compete for 40 minutes.”

UConn is in the title game for the second time in three seasons. The Huskies are 8-3 in their previous trips to the championship game and tied with Georgetown for the most conference titles in Big East history.

The Huskies ended the regular season with a dismal 68-62 loss at Marquette last Saturday but responded nicely with double-digit wins over Xavier and Georgetown while never trailing in either game.

UConn followed its 93-68 victory over the Musketeers by keeping Georgetown at bay in a 67-51 victory Friday night.

The Huskies scored their most points this season in a regulation conference win on Thursday and saw big games from Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. On Friday, UConn got a huge performance from Braylon Mullins to offset quiet showings from Ball and Reed.

Mullins scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half. For the game, he was 8-of-17 shooting and took all four of UConn’s free throws. Mullins finished four shy of his career high and made 12 of 26 shots from the floor in his first two tournament games after a 4-of-15 outing at Marquette.

“I’m so grateful to be in the position, and I think we’re all grateful to be going into the Big East championship game,” Mullins said. “Being a freshman, there’s nowhere else I would want to be.”

–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

UConn Knocks Off Georgetown

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Connecticut’s Braylon Mullins scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half as second-seeded UConn never trailed and kept 11th-seeded Georgetown at bay throughout a 67-51 victory in the Big East semifinals on Friday night.

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The sixth-ranked Huskies (29-4) advanced to the title game and will face top-seeded St. John’s after the Red Storm earned a 78-68 win over No. 4 seed Seton Hall in the first semifinal. UConn is attempting to win its ninth Big East tournament title and second in three seasons.

The Hoyas (16-18) saw their magic run out after reaching the semifinals. Georgetown missed a chance at playing for its first title since making a surprise run as the eighth seed in 2021.

Mullins notched his third 20-point game of his freshman season and finished three points shy of his career high set Feb. 18 against Creighton. The guard made 8 of 17 and hit three foul shots on a night when the Huskies only attempted four free throws.

Silas DeMary Jr. added 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists. DeMary was UConn’s leading rebounder and helped the Huskies to a 34-25 edge on the glass

The big performance by Mullins offset quiet nights from Solo Ball, Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. Ball and Karaban finished with seven points apiece while Reed was held to six points and seven rebounds after getting a double-double in Thursday’s 25-point rout of Xavier.

The Huskies shot 47.5% and made 8 of 25 3s after eking a pair of close wins over the Hoyas during the regular season.

Vince Iwuchukwu led Georgetown with 11 points, but Julius Halaifonua was unable to follow up his first career double-double in Thursday’s 14-point win over Villanova. Halaifonua was held to 10 points and did not get a rebound while sitting for over 11 minutes after getting his third foul early in the second half.

The Hoyas shot 38% and were 2 of 16 from 3-point range. Georgetown also was 9-for-18 on layups

After scoring the game’s first seven points, the Huskies took a 24-14 lead with 6:48 remaining in the first half when Karaban’s backdoor layup followed a powerful dunk by Reed. Mullins scored UConn’s last eight points by hitting three jumpers and a reverse layup in the final 4:16 and the Huskies held a 32-21 lead at halftime.

Mullins and DeMary hit 3s on consecutive possessions for a 41-27 lead less than four minutes into the second. A 3 by Caleb Williams moved Georgetown within 48-40 with 8:54 left and UConn never let the lead slip any closer.

The Huskies clinched it when Mullins found Erik Reibe for a dunk that made it 57-44 with 5:28 left and took a 15-point lead on a basket by Karaban with 3:02 left.

–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

St. John’s Stakes Claim to Big East Finale

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NEW YORK  – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s, scored 20 points as top-seeded Johnnies took control in the second half and fended off a late comeback attempt in its 78-68 victory over fourth-seeded Seton Hall on Friday in the Big East tournament semifinals. The 13th-ranked Red Storm (27-6) advanced to Saturday’s title game and will face second-seed UConn.  St John’s advanced to the title game in consecutive seasons for the third time in school history and first time since losing to UConn in 1999 and beating the Huskies in the following season.

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After being swept by the Red Storm in three matchups, the Pirates (21-12) will wait until Sunday’s selection show to find out if they will make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team for the first time since 2022. Seton Hall entered the game with a NET rating of 53 but fell to 1-6 in Quad One games.

Ejiofor finished 8-of-14 shooting after scoring 21 in Thursday’s 13-point win over Providence. He had a pair of dunks along with four layups for his fourth straight 20-point showing and 11th overall.

Reserve Joson Sanon added 15 and hit three 3-pointers as the Red Storm beat Seton Hall for the sixth straight time. Dillon Mitchell added 13 on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists while Bryce Hopkins chipped in 13 and a team-leading seven rebounds.

The Red Storm shot 52.1% from the field and made 24 of 30 free-throw attempts (80%). St. John’s operated mostly inside the paint as it tied a season low by attempting 12 3-pointers.

Budd Clark led the Pirates with 17 points but shot 6 of 18 with 11 assists and also committed four of Seton Hall’s 12 turnovers. Jacob Dar added 13 points while Mike Williams III and Najai Hines contributed 10 apiece for the Pirates, who trailed by 19 twice in the second half and cut the lead to six before St. John’s secured the win.

The Pirates shot 41.5%, misfired on 15 of 20 3-point tries and were unable to reach the championship game for the first time since 2019.

The Red Storm scored the game’s first eight points, with Ejiofor’s baseline dunk prompting a Seton Hall timeout with 17:06 left. Seton Hall hung around and trailed 38-30 by halftime.

The Red Storm took its second 19-point lead when Ruben Prey hit a free throw with 9:56 left.

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Seton Hall attempted a comeback, ripping off seven straight points to get within 55-43 following a layup by Hines with 7:42 left. The Pirates kept rallying and A.J. Staton-McCray hit an open corner 3 with 4:41 left to slice the deficit to 62-56.

Ejiofor broke free for a layup on the next possession and St. John’s sank five free throws over the next two minutes to extend the lead to 69-56 before finishing it off.

– By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Big East Preview: UConn v. Georgetown

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The University of Connecticut recovered from a stunning loss in its regular-season finale (vs. Marquete) with a dominant performance against Xavier in the Big East tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. The BIG EAST’s second-seeded Huskies (28-4) will seek another strong showing Friday night when they face 11th-seeded Georgetown (16-17) in the semifinals.

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The winner will advance to Saturday’s championship game and will meet either top-seeded St. John’s or Seton Hall, the fourth seed.

The No. 6-ranked Huskies shot 35.6% from the field and were 3 of 24 from 3-point range in a dismal 68-62 loss at Marquette last Saturday to close the regular season. After a film session led by downcast head coach Dan Hurley, UConn advanced to the Big East semifinals with a 93-68 rout of 10th-seeded Xavier on Thursday night. It is the Huskies’ sixth straight appearance in the tournament semifinals since they rejoined the conference in the 2020-21 season.

“For us, it was just great to get back on the court after the choke job over the weekend,” Hurley said. “I was just really impressed with the way that these guys came out, the energy level. There was no residual from that performance.”

The Huskies posted their sixth win by at least 25 points this season and saw big performances from Solo Ball, Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban.

Ball scored 19 after shooting 34.1% (15 of 44) in his final five regular-season games. He was 5-of-12 shooting and sank four of UConn’s dozen 3-pointers on Thursday.

“It is a new season, and you’ve got to erase what you did before, whether it was good or bad, and just capitalize and just trust your work,” Ball said.

Reed heads into the semifinal with four straight double-doubles after totaling 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds to lead the Huskies to a 40-28 rebounding edge Thursday.

Karaban was limited to two points at Marquette on Saturday and opened his final Big East tournament with a 15-point showing.

Georgetown is in the semifinals for the first time since winning a surprising tournament title in 2021 as the eighth seed and has won three straight games following a seven-game skid.

After opening the tournament with a 63-56 win over sixth-seeded DePaul on Wednesday, the Hoyas were even better in their 78-64 win against third-seeded Villanova on Thursday. Georgetown joined Villanova (2004) as the second double-digit seed to reach the semifinals, thanks to Julius Halaifonua getting his first career double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. The sophomore center finished one shy of his career high in points and helped the Hoyas control the glass, 46-25.

“We’re going to play one of the best teams in America,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said of UConn. “They have earned that right. … Danny has done an incredible job building that program back to where it’s supposed to be.

“We’re just excited that we are here. I want our men to feel how special it is to play on a Friday night in Madison Square Garden. We’re going to give them that experience, and if we continue to do what we’ve been doing the last couple of days, we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity to advance.”

The Huskies won the two regular-season games against the Hoyas by a combined six points and did not see much of Halaifonua.

In a 64-62 road win on Jan. 17, Reed had 15 points and 11 rebounds while Halaifonua played eight minutes.

On Feb. 14, Ball scored 20 points in a 79-75 home win, and Halaifonua played 15 minutes. He contributed four points and one rebound.

– By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Big East: The Hall vs. St. John’s

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – St. John’s began defense of its first Big East tournament title since 2000 by securing five offensive rebounds. The hustle set the tone for a comfortable win over Providence on Thursday and possibly foreshadowed another physical encounter with Seton Hall. After easily advancing, the top-seeded and 13th-ranked Red Storm will face fourth-seeded Seton Hall in the first semifinal on Friday.

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The Red Storm (26-6) never trailed in an 85-72 victory over the Friars, and they are in the semifinals for the third straight season. St. John’s dominated the glass by a 51-30 margin with an effort that featured in 18 offensive rebounds and 21 more shot attempts than Providence managed.

“We played awesome defense tonight, especially the first half was as good as we played all year,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said after a game in which his team scored the first nine points and led by 21 at halftime.

Zuby Ejiofor, the Big East player of the Year and defensive player of the year, finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He became the first player in the history of the tournament to achieve those numbers in the same game.

St. John’s endured two tough regular-season challenges from the Pirates. The Red Storm rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half for a 65-60 home win over Seton Hall on Jan. 20, then earned a 72-65 win in the rematch at Newark, N.J., on March 6.

Ejiofor scored 21 points in the most recent meeting after getting held to nine in the first encounter, when the Red Storm shot 35.6%.

“It’s not easy winning on the road against one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Pitino said after last week’s game. “My message to the guys, ‘When you play a team like Seton Hall, your defense has to be every bit as good as their defense in order to win.’”

Seton Hall (21-11) was swept in two games each by St. John’s and second-seeded UConn by a combined 21 points in the regular season. The Pirates are in the semifinals for the first time since 2021 after earning a 72-61 victory over fifth-seeded Creighton on Thursday.

“Obviously, we just played them not too long ago,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said of the Red Storm. “You got to get back, watch a little bit of film and come up with a game plan. They’re a very good team, obviously very well-coached, great players, but our guys played well throughout both games. We’re going to do what Seton Hall do. We’re going to defend, play hard, and what happens from there, happens from there.”

Holloway used 10 players vs. the Bluejays and got a big lift from Jacob Dar. The senior reserve scored all of his season-high 16 points in the second half after entering the game averaging 2.4 points.

Dar scored three points in 19 minutes during the two meetings with St. John’s. His timely contribution on Thursday helped support a steady showing from Adam “Budd” Clark, who collected 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Clark experienced mixed results in the two meetings with the Red Storm. He scored three points and shot 0-for-7 in the first game, then led the Pirates with 15 points in the March 6 game.

“We’re in the semifinals,” Clark said. “That’s what we came here to the Big East for.”

The Pirates relied on Dar to support Clark vs. Creighton because AJ Staton-McCray (12.0 ppg) shot 2-for-9 for eight points after shooting 4-for-17 for 11 points last week against the Red Storm.

– By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

 

Big East: English Dropped at Providence

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Providence College dismissed basketball coach Kim English on Friday after three seasons and a sub-.500 record.

English’s teams were 48-52 (23-37 Big East) during English’s tenure, which ended Thursday night with an 85-72 loss to top-seeded St. John’s in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

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The Friars finished the 2025-26 season with a 15-18 record (7-13 Big East). They were 21-14 in English’s first season and 12-20 in his second.

“We appreciate Kim and his staff for their efforts over the past three seasons leading our men’s basketball team,” athletic director Steve Napolillo said. “We wish him and his family all the best in the future.”

Providence said it immediately will begin a national search for its next coach.

English, 37, was hired March 23, 2023, to replace Ed Cooley, who departed for Georgetown. English previously was the head coach at George Mason.

At the time, ESPN reported English signed a six-year contract.

–Field Level Media

#11 Georgetown Upsets Villanova

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NEW YORK – Julius Halaifonua collected 21 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double as 11th-seeded Georgetown pulled away late in the second half for a decisive 78-64 victory over third-seeded Villanova on Thursday in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

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The Hoyas (16-17) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since their surprise run to the 2021 title as an No. 8 seed. Georgetown will face second-seeded and sixth-ranked UConn, which rolled to a 93-68 rout of Xavier earlier Thursday.

Halaifonua made all nine of his attempts inside the 3-point arc and finished 9-for-12 overall. His best rebounding performance helped the Hoyas command the glass by a 46-25 margin.

Jeremiah Williams added 14 points and Kayvaun Mulready also scored 14, including eight straight Hoyas points when they surged to a double-digit lead late in the second half. Malik Mack scored 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting but hit a tying 3-pointer with 76 seconds left in the first half.

Caleb Williams contributed 11 as the Hoyas shot 50.8% overall and made 8 of 20 3-point attempts.

Villanova (24-8) failed in a bid to reach the semifinals for the first time since winning the title in 2022 during coach Jay Wright’s final season.

Duke Brennan led the Wildcats with 14 points and six rebounds. Tyler Perkins added 13 points and Bryce Lindsay chipped in 11, but star freshman Acaden Lewis and sixth man Devin Askew combined for 12 points on 5-of-21 shooting.

The Wildcats hit 37.7% from the floor and made only 7 of 29 3-point tries (24.1%).

The Hoyas overcame a nine-point deficit in the first half and scored the final seven points of the half for a 35-31 lead. Mulready’s four-point play with 52 seconds remaining capped a 14-2 run.

After Perkins hit a free throw to cut the gap to 47-46 with 13:33 remaining, Georgetown gradually surged ahead.

The Hoyas took a 51-46 lead when Halaifonua found a cutting Jayden Fort for a baseline dunk with 12 1/2 minutes left. Halaifonua finished off a three-point play for a 61-51 edge with 8:20 left, and the Hoyas opened a 67-53 advantage with 5:36 left when Mulready buried corner treys on consecutive trips.

-By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Big East: Rematch of Friars vs. Johnnies

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Providence has at least one more game under Kim English. And that game could not feature a juicier opponent.

The ninth-seeded Friars rode a historic game from freshman Stefan Vaaks to a Big East tournament win over eighth-seeded Butler on Wednesday, setting up a second-round showdown with top-seeded St. John’s on Thursday afternoon in New York.

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Rick Pitino and 13th-ranked St. John’s (25-6) went 18-2 in the league to take a second straight regular-season title. However, the Red Storm’s first league loss came Jan. 3 at Madison Square Garden against Providence, which rallied from a 13-point hole to prevail 77-71 on Feb. 14.

The return game in Rhode Island got ugly. Duncan Powell fouled ex-Providence forward Bryce Hopkins hard when he went up for a layup, causing a fight and six ejections before St. John’s won 79-69. Powell served a three-game suspension.

“I think (the fight) was all, truthfully, blown out of proportion, to tell you the truth,” English said Wednesday. “Again, it was a hard foul, a couple guys got in each other’s face, there was some pushes. I mean, I think it got completely blown out of proportion.”

He repeatedly declared “there’s no beef” between Providence and St. John’s.

“We have a game in the greatest arena in the world,” English said, “and it’s one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball against the Big East Player of the Year (Zuby Ejiofor). It’s a team, a program we have a lot of respect for. That’s all it is. There’s no beef between us and St. John’s.”

That doesn’t even touch on Pitino putting his thumb on the scale of the Friars’ coaching search from afar.

It was reported last week that Providence will part ways with English after this season, and a rogue report last month indicated that Pitino’s son, Richard Pitino, would consider leaving his post at Xavier for the Providence job. The younger Pitino has since denied interest, and Rick Pitino — who coached the Friars from 1985-87 — also stated his son wouldn’t be leaving Xavier.

Providence looked like a lost cause Wednesday when it fell behind 15-2 to start the game, but Vaaks sparked the comeback and finished with career highs of 28 points and eight 3-pointers. He tied the Big East tournament record for threes in a game, while Ryan Mela added 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Jaylin Sellers went for 23, seven and four.

Vaaks scored 16 and 20 in the two games against St. John’s, and Sellers had 15 and 13 before he was ejected from the latter matchup.

“No extra motivation,” Sellers said. “They’re on the list, so we got to take care of business to keep our season alive. Me personally, I learned from the situation, and now it’s just time to be a leader and make sure that my guys are ready to play the next 40 (minutes).”

The focus will have to be on stopping Ejiofor, named the conference’s Player of the Year on Wednesday. He posted 33 points and 15 rebounds in the first meeting with Providence but just 14 and four in the rematch. Ejiofor is averaging 16.0 points (54.6 FG%), 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 blocks this season.

Hopkins has added 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest in his first season at St. John’s after three injury-ravaged years at Providence. He said at a team autograph signing earlier this week that he had a gut feeling the Red Storm would draw a third matchup with the Friars.

“I don’t know what made me feel like that, but it was just a feeling I had that we were going to match up with them again … so I mean, it is what it is,” Hopkins said.

All this comes amid the backdrop of Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm’s home away from campus that has attracted plenty of Providence supporters as well.

“I got my team together this morning talking about the Big East tournament, how spectacular it is,” Pitino told Hoops HQ on Tuesday. “I said, ‘Guys you’re not going to fully appreciate this until you leave New York, but you guys just played 11 or 12 games as your home court in the World’s Greatest Arena.’”

–Field Level Media