NEW YORK, NY — When you win in New York, you win big.
The St. John’s Red Storm did just that Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, like the program accomplished a year ago in the same building.
But this? This was different.
Saturday’s 2026 Big East Conference Tournament Championship had it all with the No. 2-seeded UConn Huskies, winning back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024 vs. No. 1 St. John’s, the defending Big East Tournament champions and back-to-back regular season conference champs, going at it.
The College Basketball world had their eyes locked in on Saturday night’s Big East Tournament Championship game between No. 1 St. John’s and No. 2 UConn at Madison Square Garden – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
For all the marbles between Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino. Arguably two of the best College Basketball coaches in the game today, as Hurley, 53, will be a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer down the line while the 73-year-old Pitino was already inducted into the Hall in 2013.
“We never mentioned revenge because we have so much respect for Connecticut, we just talked about championship,” said Pitino of the team’s mindset heading into Championship Saturday. “This is the championship. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, it’s a championship at stake. You guys get a chance to be a part of history. It’s a championship. It’s another night to get better and improve. And we did.”
As St. John’s got the best of UConn throughout the championship matchup, 72-52, with a sold out crowd of 19,812 filled to the gills, the Red Storm, successfully defending its tournament title, once again made history, soaking in championship glory.
History Made at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” by the Johnnies
- First program in Big East Conference history to win back-to-back outright regular season championships and conference tournament titles
- Fifth-ever Big East Tournament title in program history (1983, 1986, 2000, 2025, 2026)
- Recording 25 wins and just two losses (25-2) in Madison Square Garden across the last two seasons, tying for the most wins in program history with the Johnnies from 1950-1952
“There’s so much history with St. John’s and we brought it all back in three years, not only with a high ranking, but the first time in history of the school to win back-to-back regular season back-to-back tournaments. And for me personally, being a New Yorker and seeing the thrills of our fans and seeing the thrills of the team means a great deal to me to be a small part of this whole thing.”
-St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino
A whole lot of historic feats. Yet the one most significant moment in the win for senior forward and captain Zuby Ejiofor, the heart and soul of the program, as Pitino and each player of St. John’s have spoken out about this season—playing three full years in Queens after transferring over from Kansas—is his teammates experiencing the opportunity of hoisting a championship trophy on the floor of The Garden while confetti dropped down.
“The first one was truly special, obviously it was the first time that I experienced winning at such a high level,” said Ejiofor, with a wicked statline in Saturday’s championship, including 18 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks, three steals and two assists—earning the Dave Gavitt Award as the tournament’s most outstanding player.
“But this second time coming around it was more so not even about me, it was more so about the new guys that came in. I wanted to win for them. I wanted them to feel the thrill of winning a championship here in MSG. And we accomplished that goal. And just to see the excitement, the smiles on their faces, it meant a lot to me. That’s who I do it for, I do it for them, I do it for Johnnies Nation, for my family. More so than anything I wanted to get out with a win for them.”
The celebration was on for St. John’s Saturday night at MSG as the Red Storm dominated UConn, 72-52, in the Big East Tournament Championship – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
Like Ejiofor, his teammate Sadiku Ibine Ayo, who landed in Queens in the spring of 2023 alongside Pitino as the two were at Iona University together prior, saw the vision through, rejuvenating the program into where it is today—in a matter of three seasons.
“It’s very special to me,” said Ibine Ayo. “To win back to back in Madison Square Garden, that’s special. Coming from where I’m coming from and doing it with Coach P, I am part of the history.”
Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Rick Pitino celebrating Saturday night’s monumental win on the floor of Madison Square Garden as championship confetti dropped down – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
For some, such as Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins, and Dillon Mitchell, among others—transferring to St. John’s in the spring of 2025, Saturday night was the time for them to first experience what it’s like to win big in New York.
“We talked about it earlier until the year—just our goals coming in,” Mitchell explained in the postgame press conference. “Zuby, Sadiku, Ruben (Prey), all the guys that were here last year just talked about the accomplishment of winning the Big East. Not only the conference, the regular season, but also the tournament. And then seeing when they hung the banner up, they got the rings, it’s unreal, and it’s something that the new guys want to be a part of. And we preached it from the jump what our goals were.”
The senior forward, coming over from Cincinnati, added, “now to accomplish something that we had in early June, it’s just a big testament to what we have put in every day on a day-to-day basis.”
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
