{"id":1152,"date":"2026-03-15T16:45:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T16:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/?p=1152"},"modified":"2026-03-15T16:45:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T16:45:49","slug":"st-johns-wins-second-straight-big-east-tournament-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/?p=1152","title":{"rendered":"St. John\u2019s Wins Second Straight Big East Tournament Title"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New York, NY<\/em> – On the final day of the Big East Tournament<\/strong> at Madison Square Garden, the conferences\u2019s two top teams squared off in what many expected to be an instant classic. Instead, it was the St. John\u2019s Red Storm<\/strong> who controlled the game from start to finish, dominating UConn<\/strong> for the full 40 minutes to secure back-to-back Big East Tournament championships. The Johnnies never surrendered the lead, and the Huskies never truly looked like they had a chance to mount a comeback, as the game ended in a decisive 72\u201352 victory for St. John\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to St. John\u2019s previous two games in the tournament, attacking the paint was once again a major point of emphasis. A key part of that approach was consistently feeding the ball to the low block, where Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player Zuby Ejiofor<\/strong> made a significant impact. The senior big man finished with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting from the field, while also knocking down two three-pointers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ejiofor wasn\u2019t the only one finding success inside. Bryce Hopkins<\/strong> also showcased impressive back-to-the-basket ability, using polished footwork to create space and convert several heavily contested shots around the rim. Hopkins matched Ejiofor\u2019s scoring output, finishing with 18 points of his own on an efficient 7-of-9 from the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add to the Red Storm\u2019s strong offensive performance, they were just as dominant on the defensive end. St. John\u2019s held the Huskies to a stifling 34% from the field and forced 17 turnovers, disrupting nearly everything UConn tried to run, from what looked like clean entry passes to blowing up dribble handoffs. Leading the defensive effort was none other than Zuby Ejiofor<\/strong>. He finished with 3 steals and an impressive 7 blocks, protecting the rim and giving the Huskies nothing easy in the paint. Dylan Darling<\/strong> also made a major impact defensively, matching Ejiofor\u2019s steal total with 3 of his own. Darling did an excellent job reading ball handlers, timing their dribble cadence perfectly and picking their pockets at key moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lone bright spot for the Huskies in this game was senior big man Tarris Reed<\/strong>. Reed finished with 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field while adding 7 rebounds. Similar to St. John\u2019s approach with Ejiofor, UConn made a concerted effort to get the ball down low and take advantage of the Reed\u2013Ejiofor matchup. Reed did a solid job using his size and strength to back Ejiofor down and convert several easy hook shots around the rim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Reed\u2019s strong performance, it was difficult for the Huskies to keep pace while shooting just 16% from three-point range. UConn\u2019s typical perimeter threats\u2014Solo Ball, Braylon Mullins, and Alex Karaban\u2014struggled throughout the game, combining to shoot just 2-of-14 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Big East Tournament now complete, the attention quickly shifts to Selection Sunday, where the conference\u2019s postseason picture will officially come into focus. St. John\u2019s, UConn, and Villanova<\/strong> are all expected to hear their names called, and the biggest question now becomes where each team will land in the NCAA Tournament bracket. After St. John\u2019s dominant run through Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm will look to carry that momentum into The Big Dance, while UConn and Villanova await their seeding as they prepare for the next stage of the postseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was written by William Murphy, a correspondent and scout for <\/em><\/a>NetScouts Basketball<\/a>.<\/em> You can follow us on <\/em>Instagram<\/a>, or on <\/em>twitter.<\/em> <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are looking for those interested in our <\/em>basketball scout apprenticeship program<\/a>. For information <\/em>contact us <\/em><\/a>and forward your resume.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York, NY – On the final day of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,16],"tags":[18,19,98,73,155,187],"class_list":["post-1152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-news-2","tag-big-east-hoops","tag-college-basketball","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-netscouts-basketball","tag-st-johns-red-storm","tag-uconn-huskies"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MSG1-3.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MSG1-3.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Carl Berman","author_link":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netscoutsbasketball.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}