St. John's upsets No. 3 UConn behind Zuby Ejiofor's double-double, secures ninth straight win
St. John's Zuby Ejiofor dunks against the UConn Huskies in the second half of a Big East men’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It was an epic Friday night, and a new day has dawned for St. John’s.
The 22nd-ranked Red Storm potentially raised the ceiling on their season and put a second straight Big East championship within reach with a breathtaking ensemble performance to take down No. 3 UConn, 81-72, before a raucous sellout crowd of 19,812 at the Garden.
“We made a lot of big plays tonight — a lot of big plays — and I’m proud of our guys for just not panicking one bit at any point in the game,’’ coach Rick Pitino said.
The Red Storm had not recorded a signature win for their NCAA Tournament resume, falling short in four non-conference games against teams that are or have been nationally ranked. Now they have one, and they have opened the door to possibly get a top four seeding — or better — for March Madness.
This also was Pitino’s 903rd career win, tying him with Roy Williams for third on the all-time list. He can take sole possession of third by beating Xavier and coach Richard Pitino, his son, on Monday at the Garden (he earned his 900th win by beating his son’s team on Jan. 24).
Whether it was Dillon Mitchell going high above everyone to tip in Joson Sanon’s miss, Dylan Darling sinking a three-pointer in a one-possession game, Zuby Ejiofor hitting a one-hander in the lane or Bryce Hopkins sinking a pair of free throws to make it a three-possession game, St. John’s (18-5, 11-1) made all the big plays down the stretch to notch its ninth straight win. The Red Storm shot 61% from the field in the second half.
“I thought the Garden was as good as I’ve seen it [even] when I was at Louisville [in] Big East Tournaments,’’ Pitino said. “I thought it was unbelievable how good the Garden was.
“My message before the game was: ‘You just can have no fear of failure — we’re definitely going to win this.’ And [during the game], ‘if they cut it to two, no fear of failure.’ ’’
The Huskies (20-2, 12-1) had their winning streak snapped at 18 games. St. John’s last beat a team this highly ranked when it took down No. 3 Villanova at Carnesecca Arena on Feb. 3, 2021.
“Credit St. John’s,’’ UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “It was the exact type of game we [felt] it was going to be, just as hard a game as we’ve had to play this year. And in the end, it was always going to come down to the rebounding piece and then just taking care of the ball.”
The Red Storm outrebounded UConn 32-26 and turned nine offensive boards into 16 second-chance points. They forced the Huskies into 15 turnovers and converted those into 20 points.
“We’ve had an unbelievable run. We haven’t lost in months,” Hurley said. “That’s a top 20 defense. They’re hard to beat.’’
Ejiofor was spectacular with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead the way, but he had plenty of help. Mitchell had 15 points and six rebounds, Hopkins added 14 points and six rebounds and Darling came off the bench to score nine points and make several big plays in his 21 minutes on the floor.
“It was a really passionate game,’’ Ejiofor said. “It was a meaningful game. We knew exactly what we were playing for. Credit to UConn. They’re a great team. But our preparation leading up to this game was as great as it’s been.’’
Silas Demary Jr. scored 18 points but committed nine of UConn’s turnovers. Alex Karaban added 17 points and Tarris Reed Jr. had 12. UConn was 5-for-12 from the free-throw line to St. John’s 22-for-31.
“We work too hard to play like that,’’ Karaban said. “We invest too much time to lose, so it’s a hard feeling.’’
UConn rallied from an 11-point deficit and got within 66-65 with 4:46 to play on Demary’s drive. St. John’s led 69-67 when Darling made a three-pointer with 3:13 left to spark a game-closing 12-5 run.
The teams were tied at 39 after a first half that had four ties and six lead changes. St. John’s broke away from a 45-45 tie and grabbed a lead it would hold to the end with a 10-0 run. Hopkins had five points in that stretch and Darling made a bold steal from Demary to set up a pair of free throws by Oziyah Sellers. When Hopkins hit a three-pointer to make it 55-45, the crowd — probably 70% Red Storm fans — erupted.
“Being here in that type of atmosphere, they’re into it every second of the game [and] you hear them,’’ Mitchell said. “They’re loud. They’re supporting. We [feed] a lot off that.’’
Ejiofor made a three-pointer and a one-hander in the lane on consecutive possessions to give St. John’s its biggest lead of the game at 60-49 with 10:24 left. But UConn never stopped dogging the Red Storm, making it a white-knuckler all the way to the end.
Said Mitchell: “I could see just our focus going into this game [and] I knew that this would be a game that we’re going to come out the right way.’’
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.
