NEW YORK, N.Y. — St. John’s never trailed, never let Providence settle in, and never gave the Friars much reason to believe a comeback was coming.
By the time the final horn sounded on an 85-72 win in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm had done exactly what a top seed is supposed to do in March: control the game early, survive the one real push, and leave with a semifinal berth still very much in sight.
For Providence, the loss was a frustrating end to the Big East run and the start of an anxious wait. For St. John’s, it was another reminder that this team has the depth, toughness, and interior presence to make a real postseason push beyond this weekend. St. John’s improved to 26-6 and advanced to the semifinals, where it will face Seton Hall at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Madison Square Garden on FOX. Providence dropped to 15-18.
The story of the afternoon started in the paint and on the glass.
Zuby Ejiofor was the headliner, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in one of the most complete performances of the tournament so far. St. John’s also got 14 points from Bryce Hopkins, 14 from Oziyah Sellers, and 14 more from Ian Jackson, showing again that this team does not need to rely on one scorer when it gets moving. Officially, Ejiofor became the first player in Big East Tournament history to post at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a game.
And yet, even that stat does not fully explain how much control St. John’s had.
The Red Storm owned the backboards 51-30. They grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. They scored 15 second-chance points. They finished with 18 assists to Providence’s four. That is a massive gap in game control, and it showed up from the opening minutes. Providence missed its first several chances, while St. John’s kept extending possessions and turning misses into momentum.
The opening stretch was brutal for the Friars.
St. John’s scored the game’s first nine points and set the tone with defense, activity, and relentless rebounding. Even on possessions when the Red Storm missed, Providence could not finish the stop. Ejiofor and Hopkins were both active around the rim, and the Red Storm kept turning loose balls into extra opportunities. By the midpoint of the first half, St. John’s had already built a 20-5 lead, forcing Providence to play uphill almost immediately.
That first-half hole proved to be too deep.
Providence had moments offensively, especially from Stefan Vaaks, who finished with 23 points and knocked down five threes, and Jaylin Sellers, who added 21 points. Ryan Mela chipped in 16. But the problem for the Friars was that too much of their scoring came while they were still chasing the game. They shot a respectable 44.6 percent overall and 35.7 percent from three, but they were crushed on the glass and never found enough defensive stops to make the game truly tense.
At halftime, St. John’s led 48-27.
That number mattered because it reflected more than just hot shooting. The Red Storm actually did not light it up from deep, finishing just 7-for-27 from three. Instead, they won the game with pressure, rebounding, transition scoring, and physicality around the basket. They scored 46 points in the paint and 23 on the fast break, both signs of a team that dictated the pace and punished Providence whenever the Friars got loose with the ball or failed to match up in transition.
Providence did make a real second-half effort.
The Friars were much better offensively after the break, scoring 45 points in the second half and shooting 50 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. Vaaks caught fire, Mela gave them some interior scoring, and Sellers kept attacking. There were stretches where Providence trimmed the margin and at least hinted at making things uncomfortable.
But every time the Friars looked capable of making it interesting, St. John’s answered.
Ejiofor steadied things in the middle. Sellers and Jackson hit timely shots. Hopkins made winning plays that went beyond the box score, especially on the glass. Dillon Mitchell only scored six points, but he added eight rebounds and helped fuel the early defensive tone. St. John’s bench also made a difference, outscoring Providence’s reserves 30-4. In tournament basketball, that kind of depth can break an opponent’s spirit.
The closest Providence got in the second half was never truly close enough to put real pressure on the Red Storm. St. John’s pushed the lead to as many as 24 with 4:10 remaining, and from there the final minutes were mostly about running out the clock. Providence closed on an 11-0 run, but by then the result was settled.
That late push did not change the larger truth of the game: St. John’s controlled it for nearly all 40 minutes.
In some ways, this was exactly the kind of quarterfinal performance Rick Pitino would want heading into the semifinal round. The Red Storm did not need an outlier shooting day. They did not need late-game heroics. They were tougher, deeper, and more connected. They defended without fouling too much, took care of the ball better than Providence, and turned rebounding into a weapon.
That matters because the stakes only get bigger from here.
St. John’s is chasing more than just a semifinal appearance. The Red Storm repeated as Big East regular-season champions and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, the program’s first back-to-back regular-season titles since 1985 and 1986. They also swept Seton Hall during the regular season, including a March 6 win that clinched the outright league title. Now they get the Pirates again with a trip to the Big East championship game on the line.
And the bracket has opened up enough that the opportunity feels significant.
Seton Hall advanced by beating Creighton, while UConn moved on to face Georgetown in the other semifinal after the Hoyas upset Villanova. That leaves St. John’s two wins away from a Big East Tournament title, with the tournament championship game set for Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
For Providence, the conversation shifts immediately from survival in New York to selection uncertainty.
The Friars are done in the Big East Tournament and will not be part of the NCAA Tournament picture. Their remaining hope is an invitation to another postseason event. The most realistic options are the 32-team NIT or the eight-team College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas, though neither is guaranteed. The NIT field will be announced on March 15, and the CBI is no longer an option because the 2026 event was canceled.
That uncertainty adds another layer to the disappointment.
Providence showed enough offensive punch this season to be dangerous, but the flaws were there again in this one: not enough stops, not enough rebounding, and too many empty possessions against a physical opponent. The Friars finished 15-18 overall and 7-13 in Big East play, so there is no guarantee their season continues.
As for St. John’s, this is the kind of March performance that can build momentum fast.
The Red Storm defended, dominated the glass, got star production from Ejiofor, and showed they can win big without needing perfect perimeter shooting. In tournament settings, those are usually the traits that travel best. The matchup with Seton Hall will bring a different kind of test, especially with familiarity and rivalry intensity involved, but St. John’s has put itself in exactly the position it wanted.
One win from the championship game. Two wins from the Big East title. And after a wire-to-wire quarterfinal victory, the Red Storm head into Friday looking every bit like a team built for March.
