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.
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.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
What the Constitution Means to Me Read moreWhat The Constitution Means To Me
You’ve likely known your closest friends for years — but when was the last time you met some… Read moreMaking Friends in Your 60s and Beyond
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.