PROVIDENCE, R.I. — About a month ago, I heard the buzzer, broke my heart, and spent Friday night in ecstasy.
Zuby Ejiofor was in the middle of both dramatic finishes.
His two missed free throws and a clock error gave St. John's a blowout win over Baylor in the Bahamas.
He hit a buzzer-beating jumper in the lane to lead the Johnnys to a thrilling 72-70 victory Friday night against Providence at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
“It felt amazing,” an ecstatic Ejiofor said at halftime of the Big East game after St. John's rallied from a 13-point deficit to win for the first time since 2010. He was always on the wrong side of the game-winning shot. ”
For much of the night, the Red Storm (10-2, 2-0 Big East) looked no better.
They were incredibly slow and trailed by 16 points.
They were scary at the free throw line, making 11 of 26.
They had many chances to take command towards the end of the second half, but were unable to take advantage of them.
Until Ejiofor grabbed his sixth offensive rebound of the night.
Until the emerging big man's basket happily sent them back to Queens after the school won in front of fans in Providence for the first time in 2017.
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“My philosophy is, and I’m a coach.” [Rick Pitino] “Every shot is essentially my rebound,” said Ejiofor, who penned the program's first buzzer-beater since the 2013 NIT opener. “I take pride in giving my teams second chances, and that's exactly what I did. Find a way to get an offensive rebound and get it to the rim to win the game.” Let’s do it.”
It was a chaotic finish. Davon Smith's jumper with 34.5 seconds left gave St. John's a three-point lead, but Bensley Joseph's 3-pointer tied Providence with 18.8 seconds remaining.
Meanwhile, Smith drove to the left of the free throw line.
His shot just missed the mark.
Ejiofor scored the Red Storm's 22nd and 23rd second-chance points of the night.
“Zubby is a monster,” Pitino said.
For St. John's, Ejiofor had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Smith had 17 points and four assists.
RJ Lewis followed with 16 points, followed by Kadary Richmond with 10 points. Joseph scored 17 points for Providence (7-6, 1-1), which was without star forward Bryce Hopkins (left knee).
Pitino was excited about the Johnnys' tenacity. Their refusal to surrender, their fight.
After getting shredded in the first half, St. John's defended at a high level in the final 20 minutes, holding the Friars to 32 percent from the field and just one 3-pointer.
Pitino's team missed all of its free throws and didn't fall.
“We got very nervous at the foul line, but they didn't let it bother us. They were disappointed, but I said, 'Don't worry, we'll get the offensive rebounds and come back. ” he said. [on defense]win the game,'' Pitino said. “All that matters is winning the game. It doesn’t matter if you miss a shot, you miss a free throw, you win the game. And we won it.
“I think they're maturing mentally. Three weeks ago we lost by 12 to 16 points because we missed all our free throws and shots. But tonight we just couldn't do that offensively. , they've matured mentally and gotten tougher, but still found a way to win on the road in a tough environment.
St. John's showed the ability to withstand punches. They rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half of an exhibition game win against Rutgers, and were able to bounce back the next day after losing to Baylor.
The team was especially strong in the second half.
But Friday night was different. Friday night was a league game in a place St. John's rarely wins.
Friday night was a journey in harsh conditions.
A lot of things went wrong all night. That didn't deter them.
“This really shows that we can overcome adversity even in difficult situations,” Ejiofor said. “We lifted each other up, we lifted each other up, we played for each other, and we won.”
