It was a forgettable night for Zuby Ejiofor, until the top.
In the primary half the invaluable junior big man logged just eight minutes attributable to foul trouble.
He struggled against Butler 7-footer Andre Screen within the second half.
But with the sport on the road, Ejiofor got here up big.
He scored six big points in the ultimate 5:48, helping power seventh-ranked St. John’s to a hard-fought, 76-70 win over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse to clinch a minimum of a share of the Big East regular season title.
“The coaching staff and my teammates kept on trusting me throughout your complete game,” said Ejiofor, who finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes. “Yeah, I used to be having a foul game, but I are likely to stay level-headed irrespective of how the sport goes. This was a little bit little bit of frustration in the primary half for me. As leader, [I have to] do whatever it takes to get the win — whether it’s defending or scoring — and that’s exactly what I did within the last five minutes.”
Even on an off night, Ejiofor showed how invaluable he’s.
When he was on the ground, St. John’t outscored Butler by 16 points.
When he wasn’t, Butler was plus-10 across 17 minutes.
Twiddling with two sore groin muscles, Kadary Richmond didn’t appear limited, notching 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 33 minutes.
Senior forward Aaron Scott hyperextended his left knee within the second half, based on coach Rick Pitino.
He fell awkwardly on a drive to the basket. But Scott returned to the sport.
Freshman guard Jaiden Glover wasn’t with the team.
He recently underwent surgery to repair torn tendons in his right wrist.
He’s out for remainder of the season.
