St. John’s men’s basketball squeaks past Ole Miss in ugly fashion

To paraphrase a nugget of hockey wisdom: “They don’t ask how, they ask how many.”

Hours after the first-place Colorado Avalanche gutted out an unflattering overtime win over the New York Rangers in the NHL, St. John’s survived its own sloppy matchup at Madison Square Garden and inched past Ole Miss in a 63-58 rock fight, their first victory against an SEC opponent in 13 years.

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There were clear concerns about St. John’s’ rebounding and defense against power-conference opponents entering Saturday night’s contest, but they prevailed in a manner reminiscent of last season’s team. The Red Storm walled up defensively and did just enough to survive a slobber-knocker that saw both teams fire worse than 36.4% from the field, combine to shoot 6-of-40 from three, and give up 20 turnovers each.

Although the offense again sputtered out, St. John’s made the necessary stops to end the game on top, thanks in large part to their star center. Zuby Ejiofor was the only Johnny to score in double-figures, recording a team-high 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and became the fourth Red Storm player to record eight blocks in a game — the first since Tariq Owens did it versus Georgetown in 2018.

St. John’s came out cold to open the game by shooting 1-of-6, but a series of steals spurred a 13-4 run to give them a 17-14 lead with 10:41 to go in the first half. The Red Storm had a chance to bury Ole Miss after an Ian Jackson layup gave them a 33-18 lead, yet they spoiled that chance by failing to score for the final 3:59 of the first half and allowing a 7-0 run to enter halftime with a slimmer 33-25 lead.

After a Zuby Ejiofor three-point play to open the second half, St. John’s again sagged on offense, undergoing a scoring drought of 5:54. In spite the Red Storm offense going AWOL, Ole Miss could only cut their eight-point halftime deficit by one point before a Dillon Mitchell putback slam triggered an 11-4 run for the Johnnies to put them ahead by 14 points.