Ejiofor’s buzzer-beater in OT gives No. 6 St. John’s an 86-84 win over No. 20 Marquette

Zuby Ejiofor hit a tiebreaking shot at the buzzer, Kadary Richmond got the first St. John’s triple-double this century and the sixth-ranked Red Storm beat No. 20 Marquette 86-84 in overtime Saturday for their sixth consecutive victory.

St. John’s (27-4, 18-2 Big East) matched a program record for regular-season wins. The Red Storm went 27-4 in the 1985-86 regular season and ended up finishing 31-5 that year. They already had clinched their first Big East outright regular-season title since 1985 a week earlier.

After Marquette’s Kam Jones converted a game-tying driving layup with 26.4 seconds left, RJ Luis Jr. missed a 3-pointer for St. John’s. Marquette’s Chase Ross initially got the rebound, but Richmond knocked the ball out of his hands and it went to Simeon Wilcher.

Wilcher got the ball to Ejiofor, who hit a shot in the paint just before the horn sounded.

Luis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Ejiofor had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Richmond finished with 10 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.

Richmond’s triple-double was the first for St. John’s since Ron Artest had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against Seton Hall on Jan. 9, 1999.

Jones had 32 points and David Joplin 21 for Marquette (22-9, 13-7).

Takeaways

St. John’s: The Red Storm won even without having starting guard Deivon Smith due to a shoulder issue.

Marquette: The Golden Eagles enter the postseason having gone 4-6 since the start of February.

Key moment

Luis scored in the paint with 10.7 seconds left in regulation to force the extra session. Marquette’s Ben Gold missed a potential game-winner in the closing seconds of regulation.

Key stat

St. John’s outrebounded Marquette 46-42.

Up next

St. John’s and Marquette both have byes into Thursday’s quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament in New York.

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