Zuby Ejiofor powers St. John’s past Providence into Big East semis
Zuby Ejiofor compiled 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and No. 13 St. John's sailed to an 85-72 win over Providence in the Big East tournament quarterfinals on Thursday in New York.
The Big East Player of the Year, Ejiofor made 9 of 14 shots and added three blocks while three teammates finished with 14 points: Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins and Ian Jackson. The top-seeded Red Storm (26-6) advanced to the semifinals to face the winner between fourth seed Seton Hall and fifth seed Creighton.
St. John's dominated ninth-seeded Providence 51-30 on the glass, including 18-4 on offensive rebounds. Hopkins, an ex-Friar, had 13 rebounds, six on offense.
Stefan Vaaks made all five of his 3-pointers in the second half one day after sinking eight in the Friars' win over Butler. He set the Big East tournament record for 3-pointers in a two-game span (13).
Vaaks scored 23 points and Jaylin Sellers had 21 as the Friars (15-18) likely played their last game under coach Kim English, who reportedly won't be retained.
St. John's scored the first nine points of the game while holding Providence without a made field goal for nearly six minutes. Hopkins' steal and slam dunk made it 20-5 with 13:06 still to go in the half.
Providence made layups on three quick possessions to prompt St. John's coach Rick Pitino to call a timeout. But the Red Storm scored eight of the next 10 points and led by double digits the rest of the afternoon.
Jackson's triple at the 5:42 mark gave St. John's its first 20-point advantage at 37-17, and Hopkins added a 3-pointer of his own before the top seed went to the locker room up 48-27.
Providence put up a fight in the second half. Consecutive 3-pointers by Vaaks and a pair of dunks by Oswin Erhunmwunse and Sellers brought the Friars within 59-46 at 13:51, and nearly two minutes later Ryan Mela (16 points) cut the margin to 11 on a layup
St. John's hit an 0-for-6 snag during that time, going scoreless for 2:48. Ejiofor's bucket off an offensive rebound ended the drought.
Vaaks drilled a highlight-reel 3 from near the logo at half court, though he missed the chance at a four-point play. St. John's quickly reestablished control, scoring the next 10 to make it 75-53 on Dillon Mitchell's fastbreak dunk with 8:07 to go.
Despite Providence ending the game on an 11-0 run in garbage time, the Red Storm outscored the Friars by a whopping 30-4 in bench points.