It felt like last season.
A big deficit. Nothing going right. And out of nowhere, St. John’s woke up, playing like its life was on the line.
There was no Kadary Richmond or RJ Luis Jr. this time. Instead, it was Dillon Mitchell, Bryce Hopkins and Dylan Darling leading the charge in a wild come-from-behind 65-60 victory at the Garden over rival Seton Hall to extend their winning streak to five.
On a night when Zuby Ejiofor didn’t have it and the starting backcourt of Oziyah Sellers and Ian Jackson were non-factors, the Red Storm found it late. Trailing by 15 early in the second half, they outscored Seton Hall 33-13 over the final 15:39, and owned the glass in winning time.
“Without question, this was my favorite game of the season,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Now we’ve played better, but it’s my favorite game of the season. Because when you’re down 15 to a team like Seton Hall and you’re getting your [behind] kicked on the offensive glass, and you’re in foul trouble, and you come back from 15 points down and wind up with 20 offensive rebounds, you really wanted to win this game.”
It marked just the second time all year, St. John’s has won when it trailed after halftime. The first occasion came at the start of this run, in the decisive win at Butler.
Mitchell gave St. John’s the lead for good with 4:53 left and Darling’s steal and basket with 1:10 remaining pushed the lead to five. Ejiofor hit three key free throws in the final 1:21 as the Red Storm won for the 10th time in 12 games to remain all alone in second place in the Big East.
Mitchell led St. John’s (14-5, 7-1 Big East) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Bryce Hopkins added 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Darling chipped in eight points and three steals. A.J. Staton-McCray scored 16 for Seton Hall (14-5, 4-4).
“I asked the guys before the game, what do you admire the most about Zuby? They all said, he just outworks everybody,” Pitino said. “I said, I got to get 13 guys who outwork everybody like Zuby for us to progress to the level we want to get to, and these two guys [Mitchell and Hopkins] did that tonight.”
Dillon Mitchell slams home a dunk during the first half of St. John’s 65-60 win over rival Seton Hall on Jan. 20, 2026 at Madison Square Garden. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Defense won the game, St. John’s forcing 13 Seton Hall turnovers and holding them to 28 percent shooting in the second half. Over the final 12:10, St. John’s won the battle on the glass, 20-6.
“They got momentum in the second half, and then they just imposed their will,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said.
Early in the second half, a win felt unlikely. St. John’s missed its first six shots of the period and went scoreless over the first 4:21. At that point, the Red Storm trailed by 15, and were getting outworked at both ends of the floor.
Rick Pitino reacts during the first half of St. John’s win over Seton Hall. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
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During a timeout, Pitino told his players to think of it like an NCAA Tournament game. Either respond, or their season could be over.
“Are you going to go home, or are you going to win the game?” he said. “That was the challenge I gave to them. You’re down 15, are you going to go home, it’s the NCAA Tournament, say goodbye to everybody, never see each other again, or move on?”
From there, St. John’s flipped a switch, turning the clock back to last season to keep the good vibes going.
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“We just went out there and played our hearts out, left it all out there on the court, and we’re happy with the results,” Mitchell said. “It’s just playing as hard as you can, that’s the main thing. There’s nothing special we did. It was just playing hard, getting stops on defense.”