There were so many chances for St. John’s to pull away, so many opportunities when it felt like Providence was asking to be sent home.
There was the 15-3 start. Multiple 10-point leads in the second half. A five-point edge with 3:19 to go. Chances upon chances to put the hammer down, and Rick Pitino’s Johnnies could not do it.
They played with fire up until the end — when they got burned. Eventually, Providence pushed through the open door, sending St. John’s to by far its worst loss of the season, a 77-71 setback at the Garden.
“We’re going to lose games — we shouldn’t have lost today,” Pitino said. “This is not last year’s team. I’ve said it all along. We have high hopes. But what I’m noticing right now is a team that has a lot of frailties, and it showed today for the first time, that guys were just worried about their missed shots rather than being meticulous about scouting. We did some things from a scouting standpoint we haven’t done all year.”
Providence, which entered the day 1-6 against high-major opponents, closed on a 14-3 run as St. John’s wasted a 33-point, 15-rebound effort from Zuby Ejiofor. Red Storm players other than Ejiofor shot 12-for-55 from the field, highlighted by the starting backcourt of Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon and Oziyah Sellers shooting just 5-for-30. Against his former team, Bryce Hopkins shot 3-for-13, but the defensive end is what upset Pitino the most afterward.
Providence scored 14 points in the final 2:55, starting with Stefan Vaaks’ 4-point play. There was a missed defensive rebound that led to another Vaaks 3-pointer a few possessions later that gave Providence the lead for good.
Zuby Ejiofor of the St. John’s Red Storm and Jamier Jones of the Providence Friars fight for control of the ball during the first half on January 3, 2026 at Madison Square Garden Robert Sabo for NY Post
“What I kept telling them is defense is going to win this game, and we did everything wrong defensively with the game on the line,” Pitino said. “It wasn’t one person. It was everybody making mistakes.
“Our veterans did not make good defensive plays down the stretch. Can’t foul a 3-point shooter — that’s insanity — and he did foul him. You can’t not block out in a two-point game. You can’t get beat over the top.”
Really, the game turned a few minutes earlier. St. John’s (9-5, 2-1) had the ball up 10 when Sanon missed a layup. Hopkins couldn’t convert on two follows. Providence (8-6, 1-2) responded by scoring 11 of the next 13 points.
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Pitino called it St. John’s worst offensive game of the year. The Red Storm shot 28.2 percent from the field, missed 13 free throws and were outscored in the paint by 18. They were 6-for-22 on layups and had just five points in transition.
“We just lost our confidence when we kept missing, then they just wanted to feed Zuby the ball almost every time down the court because they lost their confidence,” Pitino said. “It was just a one-man show tonight — only one guy had it.”
A scuffle breaks out between Zuby Ejioforof the St. John’s Red Storm and Jamier Jones of the Providence Friars after a fight for control of the ball Robert Sabo for NY Post
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St. John’s came out red-hot, ripping off the game’s first 13 points. The 3-pointers were falling early — Ejiofor hit his first three tries.
It felt like the rout was on. But Providence responded with an extended 22-9 run to stabilize the game. On a few occasions in the second half, St. John’s built the lead to 10 but could never extend it. In the end, it followed a season-long pattern of blowing leads. For the third time this year, the Johnnies lost a game they led by double figures. It also marked the fourth defeat in which they led in the final 10 minutes. They also fell to 1-3 in games decided by single digits.
“When I say back to the wall, it’s because our record is not good,” Pitino said. “We lost at home. So it’s not a good situation, but we have to dig out of it.”