Zubi (24) Fuels The Red Storm
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
The St. John’s University Red Storm cut down the basketball net at Madison Square Garden after a 72-52 victory over the University of Connecticut Huskies to win the 2026 Big East Tournament.
St. John’s men’s basketball team dominated the court in the championship game for the second year in a row under the leadership of Head Coach Rick Pitino, who took over the program just three seasons ago. They made shots and applied unyielding defensive pressure to keep the Huskies from scoring, only briefly slowing momentum at the beginning of the second half, but quickly sprung back into action to close out the game.
“It means a lot,” Bryce Hopkins said about the emotions of the win. “It’s just so rewarding that all the work we put in in the summer and all the long days, the long nights, the ups and downs, it paid off.”
Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s with 18 total points each. Ejiofor, who was named the recipient of the Dave Gavitt Trophy, as the Tournament’s Most Outstanding player, was also the first player to earn Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar Athlete of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player in the same year.
It was a dramatic turnaround from the last time St. John’s faced UConn during the season, a complete reversal from the 72-40 loss Feb. 25, but they knew it was possible after defeating UConn earlier Feb. 6 81-72
St. John’s took their place in the first seed of the Big East tournament after finishing the regular season with an 18-2 record. UConn was in the second seed after a 68-62 loss to Marquette March 7, bringing their record to 17-3.
Both teams move on to March Madness with the #5 Red Storm taking on Northern Iwao whlle the #2 Huskies will face the #15 Furman.
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