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02/28 22:47 CST Zuby Ejiofor has triple-double as No. 15 St. John's bounces
back with 89-57 rout of Villanova
Zuby Ejiofor has triple-double as No. 15 St. John's bounces back with 89-57
rout of Villanova
By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Zuby Ejiofor had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for
his first career triple-double, and No. 15 St. John's bounced back from an
embarrassing loss by blitzing Villanova 89-57 on Saturday night at Madison
Square Garden.
Ian Jackson added 19 points and a career-high five steals off the bench for the
Red Storm (23-6, 16-2 Big East), who raced to a 30-point lead in the first half
and remained a half-game behind No. 6 UConn atop the conference standings.
Villanova set a season low for points in its most-lopsided defeat since a 93-56
blowout in February 1997 at No. 3 Kentucky, coached then by current St. John's
coach Rick Pitino.
Oziyah Sellers scored 14 in the Johnnies' largest victory over Villanova, their
most frequent opponent. St. John's leads 68-67 in a series that dates to the
1909-1910 season.
Ejiofor, who also blocked three shots, delivered the fourth known triple-double
in school history and second in the past 26 years, after Kadary Richmond had
one in the regular-season finale last year at Marquette.
On the sideline, the 73-year-old Pitino again channeled Colonel Sanders in his
all-white suit and shoes as St. John's encouraged fans to wear white for its
annual "White Out" game.
St. John's was coming off a 72-40 loss Wednesday night at rival UConn, where
the Red Storm shot 20% and missed their last 24 field-goal attempts over the
final 17:27 in by far their largest defeat in three seasons under Pitino.
That ended a 13-game winning streak --- the longest for the program in 41 years.
Duke Brennan scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half for the Wildcats
(22-7, 13-5), who had won seven of eight. They will be the No. 3 seed in the
Big East Tournament.
Villanova lost starting forward Matt Hodge to a right leg injury early in the
second half. After the game, coach Kevin Willard said he had no update yet.
Up next Villanova visits DePaul on Wednesday night looking to sweep the regular-season series. St. John's hosts Georgetown on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in its final home game of the regular season, after winning their first matchup 95-83 on New Year's Eve. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball |
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