The Rick Pitino era at St. John’s continues to gather steam as the Red Storm dismantled the Marquette Golden Eagles 92–68 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Fueled by a blistering second half and a career-best performance from Oziyah Sellers, the Johnnies (12–5, 5–1 Big East) extended their winning streak to three games, solidifying their place as a legitimate contender in the conference.
It was a tale of two halves as the game began as a gritty, foul-heavy affair. St. John’s jumped out to an early 15–7 lead, but Shaka Smart’s young Marquette squad refused to fold. Despite shooting struggles that have plagued them all season, the Golden Eagles relied on the backcourt duo of Chase Ross and Nigel James Jr. to keep the game within reach.
St. John’s faced significant adversity in the first frame as several key starters, including Zuby Ejiofor, were forced to the bench with early foul trouble. Marquette capitalized on the disrupted rhythm, hanging tough to trail by only six, 40–34, at the intermission, leaving the Johnnies in a not-so-promising spot heading into the second half.
Any hopes of a Marquette upset were quickly extinguished after the break. St. John’s emerged from the locker room with a “different mindset and different intensity,” according to forward Dillon Mitchell. The Red Storm blew the game open with a devastating 13–2 run, eventually pushing their lead as high as 23 points.
The catalyst was Oziyah Sellers, who finished with a team-high 24 points. Sellers set the tone early with two quick triples and remained efficient throughout the night, shooting 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. When Sellers scores in double digits, the Red Storm are now 7–2 this season, a trend that Pitino has surely noted.
Supporting Sellers was Ejiofor, who dominated the paint in the second half. Ejiofor dropped 22 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, proving too physical for the undersized Marquette frontcourt.
For Marquette (6–11, 1–5), the loss marks another difficult chapter in a rebuilding year. While Chase Ross (20 points) and Nigel James Jr. (17 points) showed flashes of brilliance, the team’s inability to defend the perimeter and match St. John’s physicality proved fatal.
St. John’s, meanwhile, looks like a team that has found its identity. After a mid-season low point following a loss to Providence, Pitino’s squad has won five of its last six games. Their ability to score—this being the ninth time they’ve cracked the 90-point mark this year—combined with an increasingly suffocating defense, makes them a dangerous opponent for anyone in the Big East.
Between their success, St. John’s announced they have fired Matt Abdelmassih, the team’s general manager. Abdelmassih has been the GM for the team throughout the whole Pitino era — despite this, the team has decided to part ways and is on the hunt for someone to fill the position.
Amidst these changes, the Red Storm will look to keep the momentum swinging as they head back on the road to face Villanova this Saturday at Finneran Pavilion out in Pennsylvania, while Marquette heads to the Wintrust Arena in Chicago to face off against DePaul on Friday.
