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No. 6 St. John's buzzer-beater caps wild finish at No. 20 Marquette
St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor. Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Watch: No. 6 St. John's buzzer-beater caps wild finish at No. 20 Marquette

Everything is going St. John's way.

The Red Storm added another chapter to their remarkable 2024-25 season on Saturday with a buzzer-beating 86-84 road overtime win against Associated Press No. 20 Marquette (22-9, 13-7 in Big East).

St. John's power forward Zuby Ejiofor scored the winning bucket as time expired after Marquette guard Chase Ross appeared to secure a rebound off a missed three from Red Storm guard RJ Luis Jr. Senior guard Kadary Richmond stole the ball from Ross under Marquette's basket, setting up Ejiofor's winner.

Associated Press No. 6 St. John's (27-4, 18-2 in Big East) had already clinched the Big East regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, set to begin on March 12.

Saturday was another marquee win for the resurgent program under head coach Rick Pitino. The Red Storm haven't made the men's NCAA Tournament since 2019, when they lost in the First Four, and have only made four tournament appearances since the 2000-01 season.

Luis stayed red-hot against the Golden Eagles, scoring 28 points on 52.6 percent shooting and adding 11 rebounds. During the team's current six-game winning streak, which includes wins over Creighton (21-9, 14-5 in Big East) and two-time defending national champion UConn (21-9, 13-6 in Big East), Luis is averaging 22 points, eight rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Richmond had a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds.

St. John's is third in KenPom's defensive rating (89.3), making it legitimately scary with March Madness fast approaching.

The Red Storm have multiple playmakers, strong rebounding and a stout defense. Considering how this storybook season has gone so far in Queens, it would be a shock if St. John's didn't go on a deep NCAA Tournament run.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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