St. John’s men’s basketball takes care of business in blowout over Marquette

There was no tension inside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, which was exactly how St. John’s had hoped their matchup against last-place Marquette would ensue.

The Red Storm overcame early foul trouble to rout the Golden Eagles in wire-to-wire fashion, 92-68, for their third straight double-digit victory in the last week.

St. John’s started off hot with a 15-4 run, but Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins were sent to the bench with two quick fouls, giving Marquette a lifeline. Without the Red Storm’s best defender, in Ejiofor, on the floor for the rest of the half, the Golden Eagles outperformed the Red Storm’s bench unit and cut their lead to 40-34 at halftime. Entering the game shooting a conference-worst 38.1% from the field, the inexperienced Marquette offense looked fluid and shot 50% in the first half.

Oziyah Sellers and Dillon Mitchell stabilized the shuffled rotation and kept the Johnnies in front with their playmaking. Sellers racked up 15 of his team-high 24 points in the first half, draining three treys before the break. Meanwhile, Mitchell acted as a point forward and recorded a team-high four assists on a night St. John’s shared the sugar and totaled twenty assists.

Unlike their loss against Providence in which St. John’s also led at halftime, the Red Storm didn’t play with their food and slammed the door shut on Marquette. Sadiku Ibine Ayo and the bench unit put behind a rocky first half and dictated the game in the second half with their defense. Ayo forced three of Marquette’s 19 turnovers and was integral to holding the Golden Eagles to 44% shooting in the second half.

Ejiofor took over without the burden of foul trouble, scoring 15 of his 22 points in the second half against a shorthanded Golden Eagles frontcourt that was missing starting center Ben Gold with an ankle injury. Bryce Hopkins nearly recorded a double-double in the second half alone, posting 10 points and eight rebounds, with eight of those points coming in a 13-0 run that gave St. John’s a 70-47 lead to ice the game with 7:26 remaining.

Improving to a record of 12-5 and a 6-1 mark in Big East play, St. John’s will have another golden opportunity to claim a Quad 1 road win when they face the Villanova Wildcats in Philadelphia on Saturday, January 17, in their first game at Xfinity Mobile Arena (formerly known as the Wells Fargo Center) since their 79-75 upset win over the first-ranked Wildcats on February 7, 2018. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game can be streamed on Peacock.