St. John's overcomes stars' early foul trouble to rout last-place Marquette

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Jan 13, 2026

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NEW YORK — St. John’s weathered the storm.

And then poured it on.

The Red Storm overcame Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins’ early foul trouble to rout last-place Marquette, 92-68, at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night.

Oziyah Sellers erupted for a game-high 24 points, while depth players stepped up for St. John’s (12-5; 5-1 vs. Big East) as star scorers Ejiofor and Hopkins spent much of the first half on the bench.

“I thought Dylan Darling turned the game around for us with incredible hustle,” head coach Rick Pitino said. “I thought Oziyah, from beginning to end, was great. … Dillon [Mitchell] gave us a great lift.”

The Red Storm got off to a red-hot start, scoring on their first five possessions — including a pair of Sellers 3-pointers — to jump out to a 12-2 lead.

But Hopkins picked up his second foul with 17:44 left in the first half, sending him to the bench, and he did not return until the start of the second half.

St. John’s led 26-18 when Ejiofor was called for his second foul with 8:40 remaining before halftime. Ejiofor subbed out at that point, too, and also stayed out until the second half.

Still, the Red Storm managed to keep scrappy Marquette (6-12; 1-6 vs. Big East) at arm’s length, with Darling, Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Ruben Prey providing quality minutes off the bench.

St. John’s led, 40-34, at halftime, thanks in large part to 15 points from Sellers.

“Marquette, they were animals on the court,” Mitchell said. “They played super hard. They played physical. It was tough. They challenged us at a lot of things offensively and defensively. I just think [in] the second half, we came out with a different mindset, a different intensity, a different effort.”

The returns of Ejiofor and Hopkins fueled a dominant second half in which St. John’s outscored the Golden Eagles, 52-34.

Ejiofor scored 15 of his 22 points after halftime. He finished the game 8 of 11 from the field with seven rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.

Hopkins finished with 12 points and eight rebounds after totaling only two points without a rebound in his two first-half minutes.

“We weren’t locked in [with our] personnel, and that’s what caused some of our best players to get in foul trouble,” said Mitchell, who contributed eight points, eight rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes.

“But it’s good to have guys come in. I think [Ibine Ayo] was great for us tonight when he came in. Just his intensity, his effort, how hard he played, he was big for us tonight. Having that depth, having guys come in ready to play, it’s big for us.”

The victory was important for a St. John’s team that was trying to avoid a second home loss to a lowly Big East opponent.

Tuesday’s game was the Red Storm’s first at the Garden since they blew a 10-point second-half lead in a 77-71 loss to Providence on Jan. 3. That game looms large as a Quad 3 loss — the worst defeat on the Red Storm’s resume.

But St. John’s has won three games in a row since then.

“It’s a big deal,” said Sellers, who finished 9 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers, in 35 minutes.

“That’s something we kind of struggled with early on, playing with the lead, so that’s something we definitely emphasize. Just watching a lot of film in practice, and just remind each other to stay together if things aren’t going our way,” he said.

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