St. John's gets ball rolling with big win over Quinnipiac to start season
St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor drives to the basket past Quinnipiac Bobcats forward Spence Wewe in the first half of an NCAA men’s basketball game at Carnesecca Arena on Monday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St. John’s kicked off its most eagerly anticipated season in decades with a celebration of the 2024-25 squad that catapulted the program back into the national spotlight. Then the new edition of the Red Storm showed why it may be worthy of celebrating when all is said and done.
No. 5 St. John’s opened its season by pasting Metro Atlantic favorite Quinnipiac, 108-74, before a sellout crowd of 5,260 on Monday night at Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm were all over the Bobcats from the start, going up 13-2 on Dillon Mitchell’s backcourt steal and dunk 3:24 into the game and 32-11 on Sadiku Ibine Ayo’s three-point play after 10:26. Ian Jackson capped a 23-4 run in the middle of the second half by hitting a three-pointer and then taking a rebound from end to end for a layup and an 89-52 lead.
“The one thing that stuck out from an ultra-positive standpoint is our mentality,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Going into the game, from when the ball was thrown up to the end of the game, we had a very intense, aggressive mentality.”
Shortly before tipoff, there was a tribute video for last season’s team before the school unveiled banners commemorating winning its first Big East regular-season title in 40 years, capturing its first Big East Tournament championship in 25 years and Pitino being named national coach of the year.
Then Pitino and the four returning players — Zuby Ejiofor, Ibine Ayo, Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopoulos — received their championship rings and Pitino addressed the crowd.
He thanked the fans for helping that team go undefeated in games at Madison Square Garden and Carnesecca Arena last season and admired the beauty of their rings before saying, “We’re all after the biggest prize of all. In order to do that, you can’t look ahead. You just treat every single day as a gift to play with extraordinary pride with that name on the front, and we will try to represent you all this season with that name on the front.”
Asked if he thought the tribute created a standard for this season’s team, Ibine Ayo said, “Definitely. After it was over, we came into the huddle like, ‘Oh, let’s get another one.’ ”
“When you watch that, you want to be a part of it,” Mitchell said. “And we have the team to do it, which starts every day in practice. I even looked at Zuby’s ring and was like, ‘I have to get me one of those,’ and we were all saying that, all the new guys. We all know what we want and we’re fighting for it every day.”
Mitchell had 18 points and shot 7-for-9 with seven rebounds and four steals. Ejiofor had 17 points and shot 7-for-10. Jackson had 15 points and was 6-for-6, including 3-for-3 on three-pointers. St. John’s shot 56.5% for the game and was 8-for-19 on three-pointers.
Off the bench, Joson Sanon scored 14 points, Ibine Ayo added 10 and Dylan Darling had six points, six assists and three steals for the Red Storm. St. John’s had 32 points off turnovers.
Jaden Zimmerman and Keith Mcknight each scored 19 for Quinnipiac.
The charge that went through the crowd when the banners were revealed grew in voltage once St. John’s offered a glimpse of how good it is, even as the season dawns. But a massive challenge lies ahead Saturday when the Red Storm host No. 15 Alabama at the Garden.
Pitino may have been sending his team a message on Friday when he suggested it was not ready for the start of this season. But in the wake of this performance, he said the two exhibition games the Red Storm played — a win over Towson and a two-point overtime loss to No. 7 Michigan — were beneficial.
“I thought the Michigan game was excellent — it’ll get us ready for Alabama,” Pitino said. “But Alabama is the most unique team to play against in the country. I’ve played against them twice, once in the [NCAAs] with Iona and then once in a regular season with Iona, and it’s a track meet. Fortunately, I think we can play that style. We’re looking forward to it.”
Ibine Ayo is in his fourth season playing for Pitino after following him to Queens from Iona. He was asked about this team’s potential, given the way Pitino’s teams improve through a season.
“I think the sky is the limit for us,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ceiling and potential. The best thing we’re trying to do right now is get better on defense. The rest will take care of itself if you get better on defense.”
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.
