No. 22 St. John’s overcomes shaky start to beat DePaul 68-56 for its 8th straight win

CHICAGO (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor had 16 points and nine rebounds as No. 22 St. John’s beat DePaul 68-56 on Tuesday night for its eighth straight victory.

Bryce Hopkins scored 15 points, Oziyah Sellers added 13 and the Red Storm (17-5, 10-1 Big East) gave Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino his 902nd career win.

St. John’s shook off a sluggish first half before taking control in the second and withstanding a late push, sending DePaul (12-11, 4-8) to its third consecutive loss. The Red Storm improved to 6-0 in road games, the program’s best stretch since 1982-83.

Layden Blocker scored 13 points for DePaul, which lost its 24th straight game against Top 25 teams. The Blue Demons have not beaten a ranked opponent since taking down then-No. 8 Xavier on Jan. 18, 2023.

St. John’s led 29-28 after an ugly first half, but the Red Storm reeled off a 16-2 run in the second that gave them a 50-37 lead.

They trailed 35-34 before scoring 12 straight points, starting with a putback and two free throws by Ejiofor, who surpassed 1,000 points at St. John’s. Sellers and Ian Jackson each nailed a 3-pointer during that stretch.

DePaul’s Brandon Maclin drove for a layup but Jackson made a free throw after Blue Demons coach Chris Holtmann picked up a technical, and Dillon Mitchell made one following a turnover to give St. John’s a 13-point lead with 10:11 remaining.

DePaul got within 56-50 on Blocker’s fast-break layup with 3:35 left before St. John’s pulled away for good.

At halftime, Rod Strickland became the fifth DePaul player to have his jersey retired, joining Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Dave Corzine and George Mikan. Strickland played for the Blue Demons from 1985-88 before a long career in the NBA that began back home in New York when Pitino was the Knicks’ coach.

Up next

St. John’s hosts No. 3 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Friday night in the first matchup this season between the top two teams in the Big East.

DePaul visits Providence on Saturday.

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