RJ Luis Jr., Kadary Richmond lead Red Storm to OT victory over Marquette
St. John's's Zuby Ejiofor makes the game-winning shot over Marquette's Ben Gold during overtime of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Milwaukee. Credit: AP/Morry Gash
MILWAUKEE — St. John’s may have opened a path to grabbing a No. 2 seeding for the NCAA Tournament on Saturday with what may rank as their grittiest and best victory of the season.
The sixth-ranked Red Storm scored an 86-84 overtime win over No. 20 Marquette before 17,893 at Fiserv Forum when Kadary Richmond stripped a defensive rebound from the Golden Eagles’ Chase Ross, Simeon Wilcher collected it and found Zuby Ejiofor on the other side of the lane for a short jumper at the buzzer.
It was Ejiofor’s second game-winning buzzer beater of the season; he also had one in a two-point win at Providence Dec. 20.
“The last play of the game where Kadary tips it [and] Sim makes the steal and the pass [was] indicative of the way the game was played,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “We played a terrific, gritty game, as we always do, and it’s a hell of a win. Probably my favorite win of the season by far.”
RJ Luis Jr. bolstered his case to be named Big East Player of the Year with 28 points, including 24 in the second half and overtime, plus 11 rebounds. And Richmond finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for St. John’s first triple double since Ron Artest had 13 points 12 rebounds and 11 assists against Seton Hall on Jan. 9, 1999.
“[It was] just putting trust in my teammates, getting them open shots and just letting the game come to me and trying to rebound and make plays,” Richmond said. “Just going out there and giving effort and seeing my teammates thrive kept me going.”
“He fought through fatigue and made big plays down the stretch,” Pitino said of Richmond.
St. John’s (27-4, 18-2) has won 16 of its last 17 games and will be the top seed in a Big East quarterfinal on Thursday against Butler or Providence at the Garden.
“Probably, if we win out, we could get a two seed which would be great,” Pitino said. “We'd like to be in Providence, certainly for our fans, but we'll go wherever we go.”
Wilcher added 13 points for the Storm, who were without Deivon Smith. The guard is trying to get past the right shoulder injury that has hampered hin for almost two months. St. John’s started Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Aaron Scott was the first man off the bench. Both ran into foul trouble, but St. John’s got 16 minutes from Lefteris Liotopoulos, 11 minutes from Ruben Prey and eight minutes from Vince Iwuchukwu.
Kam Jones had 32 points and David Joplin 21 points for Marquette (22-9, 13-7). The Golden Eagles will play the same day against Xavier in the 4 vs. 5 quarterfinal matchup and could meet the Storm again in a Friday semifinal.
“We played this game like I told them. I said ‘You're one and done. You lose this game [and] the season's over,’” Pitino said. “That's the way you’ve got to play it to prepare for March Madness. You don't just show up at March and say, ‘OK, this is what we're going to do.’ You prepare for it now. You prepare for it at the Big East Tournament. And they did a fabulous job, just a tough . . . team. Toughness like you can't believe.”
St. John’s shook off a poor first 12 minutes and Ejiofor and Richmond led them through a 21-10 run to close the first half with a 36-35 lead. And St. John’s looked like it might take control several times in the second half, but Jones and Joplin kept answering. A driving layup by Jones put Marquette up 74-73 with 40 seconds left in regulation and it extended the lead to two when Stevie Mitchell made one of two free throws with 21 seconds left. But Richmond found Luis under the basket for a layup with 10.7 remaining that would force the extra period.
“We know it's March,” Luis said. “It's time to close in, prepare well and get wins. Play every game like it's your last. So that's what we came out here and did today.”
“Our entire thing is: do whatever it takes to win and it doesn't always look pretty on every single night and that doesn't matter,” Ejiofor said. “We fight through adversity. We're a gritty team and we enjoy playing with each other. And the first half wasn't really pretty, but [in] the second half we came together and we just did whatever it takes to win. And it was another last-second shot for the team.”
St. John’s went ahead 84-82 in the OT on a Luis three-pointer with 1:08 left and Marquette tied the score on a Jones drive with 26 seconds to go. The Storm held for a final shot and put it in Luis’ hands. He missed a three-pointer and Ross came down with the rebound before the Richmond strip, Wilcher pass and Ejiofor game-winner.
“[Ejiofor] was not having a good game tonight defensively, but he never wilted,” Pitino said. “In the timeouts, he showed great maturity, great leadership, and it's fitting that he made the shot.”
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.
