Zuby Ejiofor scored 21 points and withstood foul trouble as No. 18 St John’s clinched at least a share of the Big East regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament by outlasting Seton Hall in a physical 72-65 victory Friday night in Newark, N.J.
The Red Storm (25-6, 18-2 Big East) clinched at least a share of the regular season title for the second straight season and in consecutive seasons for the second time in program history.
Ejiofor scored 12 points in the second half and made 8 of 12 field goals along with 5 of 6 free throws.
Bryce Hopkins and Oziyah Sellers added 11 apiece as the Red Storm shot 65.2% in the second half and 50% overall. St. John’s also hit 7 of 20 3s to counter its 59.1% (13-of-22) showing at the free-throw line.
Adam Clark led Seton Hall (20-11, 10-10) with 15 points but the Pirates finished 0-4 against St. Johns and UConn with the losses coming by a combined 21 points. AJ Staton-McCray added 11 but shot 4 of 17 and missed 7 of 8 from 3-point territory.
The Pirates shot 41.1% and missed 10 of 11 3-point tries after entering the game with a NET rating of 52. Seton Hall clinched the fourth seed in next week’s conference tournament.
Ejiofor sat early in the second half when he picked up his third foul but helped the Red Storm withstood a stiff challenge in the final nine minutes.
The Red Storm were clinging to a 50-49 lead after Staton-McCray’s layup when Ejiofor returned with 9:28 left. The senior center helped St. John’s gradually surge ahead, hitting a hook shot and a layup on consecutive possessions for a 59-51 lead with 5:47 left.
Ejiofor seemingly secured things with a putback for a 66-58 lead with 1:17 left and Seton Hall twice cut the lead to three, on Staton-McCray’s triple with 47 seconds left and Josh Rivera’s tip-in with 20 seconds left.
After Staton-McCray missed a 3 with eight seconds left, Ejiofor fouled Najai Hines two seconds later but Hines missed both free throws and Sellers sank two free throws with three seconds left to clinch it.
Before the second half, St. John’s missed 10 of 11 shots before Ruben Prey hit a 3 and a layup in the final two minutes to put the Red Storm up 30-27 at halftime while the Pirates did not hit a field goal for the final 4:46 of the half.
