PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Heartbreak at the buzzer nearly a month ago, ecstasy this time.
Zuby Ejiofor has seen both ends of the spectrum. Friday night, the junior forward beat the buzzer with a short jumper in the lane and sent St. John’s to a 72-70 win over Providence at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Ejiofor got to the rebound of a Devion Smith miss and sent the Red Storm to a 2-0 start in Big East play after they had trailed by 16 points in the first half.
His clutch basket capped an ugly performance that saw St. John’s shoot 11 of 26 from the free throw line. This marked its first win in front of fans at Providence since 2017.
St. John’s trailed by 13 at halftime and was fortunate to not be down more. It couldn’t shoot, couldn’t defend and was outworked.
The Johnnies missed 8 of 9 3-point attempts, 5 of 7 free throws and shot 35 percent from the field.
Providence couldn’t miss, starting the game by making 11 of its first 18 shots. Bensley Joseph was the best player on the floor, producing 12 points, six rebounds and two assists.
The Friars came out aggressive, taking it to the Johnnies.
Their guards lived in the paint, creating open looks from beyond the arc.
The Friars led by as many as 16 in the one-sided first half and looked ready to run St. John’s off the floor before Pitino’s team finally settled down somewhat on the offensive end at the close of the stanza.
It carried over to the second half.
St. John’s quickly got the deficit into single digits and trailed by only five after a Jaiden Glover 3-pointer that capped an 18-8 run with 12:36 to go.
It was a two-point game with 7:54 to go when RJ Luis completed a three-point play, and St. John’s took its first lead since early in the first half on an Ejiofor left-handed drive.