NEW YORK (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor had a career-high eight blocks along with 15 points and nine rebounds, anchoring a strong defensive performance that carried No. 23 St. John's past Mississippi 63-58 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Ejiofor scored all but two of his points in the second half, and the Red Storm (5-3) held on after leading by 14 with eight minutes remaining. He blocked six shots in the first half to go with three steals.
St. John's limited Ole Miss to 36.4% shooting from the field, including 2 for 16 from 3-point distance (12.5%), and forced 20 turnovers. The Johnnies went 25 of 35 on free throws to 16 of 20 for Mississippi and had a 13-0 advantage in fast-break points, enabling them to win despite shooting 34% from the floor and finishing with more turnovers (20) than field goals (17).
Malik Dia had 18 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench for the Rebels (5-4), who have lost four straight games — all to power-conference opponents. Dia started all 44 of his previous games at Ole Miss.
Ilias Kamardine scored 16 points for Mississippi, and Kezza Giffa added 10 points and seven steals off the bench.
AJ Storr, a 2023 All-Big East Freshman Team selection at St. John's, was booed throughout and scored only two points for Ole Miss. He missed all six of his field goal attempts.
Storr is playing for his fourth Power Five program in four years. He entered averaging 13.8 points per game, tied with Kamardine for the team lead.
The only previous meeting between the schools came on the St. John's campus in the first round of the 1989 National Invitation Tournament won by the Johnnies.
It was Mississippi's first game at The Garden since a 68-63 loss to Dayton in the semifinals of the 2010 NIT.
Mississippi plays Southern Miss next Saturday in Biloxi, Mississippi.
St. John's is back at MSG next Saturday to host local foe Iona, the suburban MAAC school where coach Rick Pitino spent three seasons before jumping to the Red Storm.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2025 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.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
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Join us for Bay Area Youth Ballet's magical holiday tradition as The Nutcracker comes to lif… Read moreThe Nutcracker Presented By Bay Area Youth Ballet
Interact with live nativity characters; pet various animals; sing along with Christmas carol… Read moreChristmas Under the Stars
aurosharman said:
aurosharman said:
Thomas Morgan 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.