St John’s defeat UConn 72-52 to retain Big East tournament title
St. John’s have secured their second consecutive Big East tournament championship with a dominant 72-52 victory over sixth-ranked UConn at Madison Square Garden.
Zuby Ejiofor anchored a tenacious defensive display in New York, recording seven blocks, nine rebounds and three steals.
The imposing forward also contributed 18 points alongside team-mate Bryce Hopkins to lead the top-seeded Red Storm to a historic triumph.
Pitino’s resurgence continues
This latest piece of silverware underlines the remarkable revival orchestrated by Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino.
His squad have now become the first team to claim consecutive Big East tournament crowns since Villanova achieved three successive victories between 2017 and 2019.
Furthermore, the Johnnies are the first programme since the legendary Huskies sides of 1998 and 1999 to win both regular-season and tournament titles in back-to-back campaigns.
Huskies stifled on the big stage
Oziyah Sellers added 14 points for the victors, who established a commanding 17-point advantage before the interval.
That comfortable cushion allowed the New York outfit to control the tempo and ultimately win two of their three encounters against their conference rivals this season.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Huskies endured a frustrating evening in attack and were restricted to an uncharacteristically low return.
The Connecticut programme were held to a final tally that was nine points worse than their previous lowest scoring output of the year.