St. John's Oziyah Sellers regains shooting touch as Red Storm cruise past Iona

Ian Jackson started things with a new look. Oziyah Sellers ended it with a familiar sound: swish!

When 22nd-ranked St. John’s went up against Iona on Saturday afternoon at the Garden, Jackson was expected to be the center of attention after moving into the starting point guard role. It’s just that everyone had to recognize him first.

The high-ceiling Bronx native had his distinctively styled long dreadlocks shorn Thursday night, his first short haircut since the seventh grade. Even coach Rick Pitino and Jackson’s teammates had trouble identifying him when he arrived for Friday’s practice.

What was recognizable? Sellers and the high-scoring  offense that showed up in the second half as the Red Storm trounced the Gaels, 91-64, before 15,803.

Sellers emerged from his recent shooting slump to score 16 of his 19 points and make four of five three-point attempts in the final 20 minutes. He had 11 points, including a trio of threes, in an 18-2 run as St. John’s (6-3) broke away from a surprisingly tight game.

St. John’s scored 55 points and shot 65.5% in the second half and was strong on the defensive end the entire game, holding Iona (8-4) to 38% shooting and limiting a team that was taking 27 three-pointers per game to a 5-for-19 showing.

Sellers has been the Red Storm’s best shooter this season but shot 3-for-15 overall and 2-for-10 from three-point range in the previous two games. He was 7-for-13 overall and 4-for-7 from outside the arc on Saturday.

“It's my job just to try to stay confident at all times,” he said of ending the slump. “Regardless if I miss 10 in a row, I’m going to still shoot the next one, confident.”

“I really believe he's the best shooter in the country,” Pitino said. “I really believe that — I’m not just propping him up.”

Jackson had 14 points, three assists and five rebounds, although he committed five turnovers.

“Ian is a really good basketball player and he can go from good to great in a very short period of time,” Pitino said. “[It’s] because of his willingness to learn, grow, get better . . .  Everything about him spells greatness down the road. And his defense has improved immensely.”

Joson Sanon and Bryce Hopkins each scored 13 points and Lefteris Liotopoulos and Dillon Mitchell each added 10 points off the bench. Zuby Ejiofor had 10 rebounds and a second consecutive eight-block performance. He is the first player to record at least eight blocked shots in back-to-back games in NCAA Division I since Obinna Anochili-Killen of Marshall in November 2021.

“Zuby is having a great year,” Pitino said. “I actually think he's having a better year this year than he was last year.”

CJ Anthony had 20 points for the Gaels.

The Red Storm’s start to the game was as bad as their finish was good. They missed 11 straight shots in the early going to fall into an eight-point hole, then recovered with an 18-2 run. Sanon began it with three free throws and ended it with a three-pointer for a 20-12 lead en route to a 36-26 halftime edge.

Iona made seven of its first eight shots after the break and twice cut the margin to four, the last time at 48-44 with 14:22 to play. Sellers then carried St. John’s through another 18-2 run — making all three of his three-point attempts in that span — for a 66-46 lead with 8:09 to play.

“Tonight it was [their] threes and, I'll be honest, that was a big part of the game plan to make them [shoot] them — and they made us pay,” Iona coach Dan Geriot said. “That’s beating the game plan.”

Jackson was asked the inevitable questions about his radical change in appearance after the victory.

“What prompted me: I would say a fresh start, just a different look, just a chance to — I wouldn’t say ‘start over’ — but to give myself something fresh and something new,” the sophomore said.

“Nobody recognized him the first time he came in the locker room,” Sellers said. “We all joked that now he can see the rim when he finishes.”

Amusing as this change might be to his team, Jackson is dead serious about what he wants from the fresh start.

“What I'm hoping to accomplish is a whole bunch of wins for this team, do whatever I can do to impact winning, [and] help us to be the best team we could be — to keep getting better as the season goes on,” he said. “For me, that's probably the most important thing.”