Roger Rubin: St. John's, Zuby Ejiofor enjoy comeback win on senior night
St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor is honored on senior night before a Big East men’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino didn’t beg on Monday, but he did make a case.
His position was that fans of the 18th-ranked Red Storm had to show up on Tuesday night for the ceremony before the Big East game against Georgetown to honor star center Zuby Ejiofor at senior night festivities before his last regular-season home game.
Surely some might have felt it a big ask to be in their seats at 25 minutes before the opening tip. After all, this is New York where people need to work late, socialize and commute before the fun. Still there were about 7,000 of the 14,319 that would make the scene who were there to salute perhaps the most significant player to wear a St. John’s uniform in the past quarter-century.
More important, they were all there and full-throated when it counted in the final 13 minutes to fuel the Red Storm to come back from a 10-point deficit to score a 72-69 victory and keep alive their chance to repeat as conference regular-season champions.
When it was over the fans chanted “Zuby! Zuby!” as he gave an on-court interview and said, “it’s all about how you finish!”
Ejiofor had 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting plus seven rebounds and five assists and Joson Sanon had his best game of the season with 15 points and six rebounds. Sanon had all 15 points as the Strom rallied from a 50-40 deficit with a game-closing 32-19 run.
Dylan Darling added 12 points for St. John’s (24-6, 17-2). Kayvaun Mulready had 20 points and Jeremiah Williams, the Rutgers transfer, added 17 points for the Hoyas (13-17, 5-14).
Pitino has long said that Sanon might be the greatest talent on the roster this season and he finally looked it in crunch time of a crucial game.
Darling turned a steal into a fast-break layup to snap a 57-57 tie with 6:43 to play and St. John’s managed to never give up the lead down the stretch, though the Hoyas had it a one-possession game for most of the rest of the way.
Williams had a chance to tie the game when he made a layup with 16.6 second left and was fouled by Bryce Hopkins. But he missed the free throw, Hopkins got the defensive rebound, drew the foul and made two free throws with 16.2 seconds left for the 72-69 lead. Caleb Williams missed a three-point shot for the tie on the final play of the game.
The crowd that made it to their seats for the pregame festivities rose from their seats and cheered and chanted “Zuuuuby!” for Ejiofor, who holds a special place for the program and the New York sports scene.
Consider: When one simply says “Zuby,” any sports fan in the greater New York area — regardless of the sport he or she favors — knows exactly who is being spoken about. Single-name recognition isn’t something we’ve seen a ton of in Gotham.
As Ejiofor moved from the home bench toward center court after a brief introduction by Storm coach Rick Pitino, he was joined by his parents, Sheena and Andy Philachack, and his brothers Maximus, Raul and Tyson. And as he held aloft the framed jersey presented, his fellow honorees — Hopkins, Oziyah Sellers, Dillon Mitchell and Handje Tamba – joined the crowd in enthusiastic applause as did his teammates from the bench.
Pitino on Monday had some pointed criticism of the school for how it has chosen to honor its greats and said he was disappointed that a plan to hang banners hadn’t come together.
St. John’s athletic director Ed Kull heard some of the outcry from Storm fans on social media and posted on Tuesday: “Plans are already in place to have multiple ceremonies next season honoring our proud St. John’s history. Can’t share particular details at the moment, but it’s something that’s long overdue, we all agree. Pack the house tonight and give Love to Zuby and our seniors!!!”
Ejiofor had delighted a sellout Garden crowd with a triple-double on Saturday when the Red Storm rebounded from a dispiriting loss to No. 4 UConn with a 32-point win over third-place Villanova to stay the odds on favorite to be the Big East Player of the Year. After last season being voted the Big East’s Most Improved Player and a first-team all-conference selection, he should join a select group as a two-time first-team pick with Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Malik Sealy, Marcus Hatten, D’Angelo Harrison, Shamorie Ponds and Julian Champagnie.
Speaking at a pregame news conference on campus Monday, Ejiofor said that when he was in the NCAA transfer portal after a season at Kansas, and came to the Queens campus, he hadn’t really heard of St. John’s.
“I never heard of St. John’s prior,” he said.
In a lot of ways when he transferred in, St. John’s was a fading name on college basketball landscape. It no longer is. And Ejiofor is just one very big reason for that and deserving of all the love that was showered on him Tuesday night before and after the win.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
