NEW YORK, NY — In round three of their 2025-2026 series matchup Thursday afternoon in the Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinals, with the first two regular season battles shaping up as slugfests, No. 1-seeded St. John’s slammed the door on No. 9 Providence, 85-72, at Madison Square Garden.
While putting the Friars down for the count to advance to the tournament semifinals scheduled for Friday, as four Johnnies finished in double scoring figures, providing the energy and major spark was the recently named Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor, who dropped a team-high of 21 points.
The three-man wrecking crew behind him in Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson, and Oziyah Sellers, each going for 14 points of their own, along with Ejiofor’s production, resulted in Providence having no chance at even attempting a comeback.
St. John’s, appearing in their third consecutive Big East Tournament semifinal round, had made just one Big East Tournament semifinal round since 2000 prior to Rick Pitino landing in Queens – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
So much so, the Red Storm led for the entirety of the game except for the first minute and 22 seconds which was a stretch where the contest was still tied up at 0-0.
“This is the best time to play basketball, in March, and our goal is to win a Big East Tournament championship, and Providence just so happened to be our first matchup, so the biggest thing was just coming out today with a win,” said Hopkins, who was the center of attention in Friar-Red Storm matchups this year after transferring out of Providence and to St. John’s following the 2024-2025 campaign.
Later adding, “I know there was attention coming into the game, me playing my former team. But the biggest thing was just playing through my teammates, not doing too much, and coming out with the win.”
Along with Hopkins’ 14 points, he also went on to stack up 13 rebounds, leading both teams on Thursday.
St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino described the graduate forward’s performance as “tremendous,” noting that there is still more room for Hopkins’ individual game to improve on.
“I still think there’s room for improvement,” he said. “Bryce is getting his quickness. His vertical’s getting better in the second half of the season.”
What’s Next?
No. 1 seeded St. John’s will meet No. 4 Seton Hall Friday night in the Big East Tournament Semifinals with tip-off scheduled for 5:30PM ET on FOX.
In their two regular season meetings this year, the Red Storm swept the Pirates by a combined score of 137-125 including 65-60 on January 20th at MSG and 72-65 on March 6th at the Prudential Center.
Regardless, once March rolls around and the season of tournament play, numbers and results from previous matchups go out the window.
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