St. John’s will look to extend its winning streak to an even dozen when the 17th-ranked Red Storm travels to face Marquette on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
St. John’s (20-5, 13-1 Big East) is coming off a 79-69 win at Providence on Saturday in game that featured a brawl and seven ejections. Dylan Darling had 18 of his season-high 23 points in the second half and the Red Storm had a 31-3 advantage in points off the bench.
The Red Storm have won 10 consecutive Big East road games dating back to last season, their longest-ever run of conference road wins. St. John’s has won four in a row vs. Marquette since dropping six straight in the series.
The Golden Eagles (9-17, 4-11), whose victories each all come at home, lost 96-88 at Xavier on Saturday, their third defeat in four games.
St John’s, a half-game behind first-place UConn (24-2, 14-1) in the Big East, has not lost since a 77-71 setback against Providence on Jan. 3.
“What happens to all of us is we got all new players,” St John’s coach Rick Pitino said Saturday. “They don’t know each other. We get to know them, they get to know me. And it’s just so difficult to coach nowadays. The portal’s easy, paying the players is easy, but there’s no continuity. You’ve got to build every year.”
St. John’s averages 84.3 points, allows 72.1 forces opponents into 14.3 turnovers per contest, tied for 36th in the country.
Zuby Ejiofor produces 16.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for the Red Storm, all team highs. Bryce Hopkins adds 13.6 points and 5.8 boards. Oziyah Sellers adds 10.9 ppg and Ian Jackson 10.5.
Marquette averages 76.0 points per game while giving up 77.7. The Golden Eagles struggle on the glass, getting outrebounded by 3.6 per game, the worst figure in the Big East.
Marquette allowed 16 3-pointers against Xavier, including 11 in the first half as the Musketeers built a 51-35 lead.
“Way too many threes and too big of a hole that we created for ourselves in the first half,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said in a postgame radio interview.
“Our defensive effort was better in the second half. And obviously offensively, we were able to get a lot of things going in the second half. But way too big of a hole.”
Nigel James Jr., who had 30 points and 12 assists in the loss to Xavier, leads the Golden Eagles with 15.8 points and 5.0 assists per game. He is followed by Chase Ross at 14.7 ppg and Royce Parham at 12.4 ppg. Ben Gold is the leading rebounder at 5.4 per contest.
James was named Monday as Big East Freshman of the Week for the third time this season, contributing averages of 19.5 points, four rebounds and nine assists against Villanova and Xavier.
St. John’s won the first meeting with Marquette this season, pulling away from a six-point halftime lead for a 92-68 victory on Jan. 13, the Red Storm’s largest victory ever in 49 meetings with Marquette.
Sellers had 24 points and Ejiofor 22 for the Red Storm, which logged a 39-26 edge on the glass and a 15-3 advantage in second-chance points. St. John’s also scored 24 points off Marquette’s 19 turnovers.
