CINCINNATI — Rick Pitino’s 900th win was as tense and dramatic as any of the previous 899.
Down 16 points early in the second half and his star, Zuby Ejiofor, on the bench after fouling out in waning seconds, St. John’s and Dylan Darling found a way to get the Hall of Famer his milestone win in his first meeting against his son Richard in the Big East.
Darling scored St. John’s five points in the final 1:20, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 53.2 seconds left, to send the Johnnies to their sixth consecutive win, 88-83 over Xavier, at Cintas Center Saturday afternoon.
Afterwards, St. John’s players were given commemorative shirts for Piitno’s 900th on-court victory.
Filip Borovicanin’s 3-point play fouled out Ejiofor on a questionable call with 1:12 to go. It gave Xavier a one-point edge. But Darling sank a 3-pointer on the other end and Ruben Prey’s follow iced it.
Bryce Hopkins had a big second half and finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Dillon Mitchell’s ascension continued with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Ejiofor added 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Tre Carroll led Xavier with 31 points.
It was a wild finish. St. John’s, down 16 at one point, went up five with less than three minutes left.
But Carroll hit a deep step-back 3-pointer and Malik Messina-Moore scored on a drive to pull Xavier even at 79 with 1:38 remaining.
The start was very strong. St. John’s made eight of its first 10 shots, and built a quick 20-11 lead. Then, everything went wrong.
Pitino went deep into his bench, leading to a 17-5 Xavier run. The Musketeers got hot against the Red Storm reserves and never really cooled off.
After back-to-back 3-pointers by Messina-Moore, St. John’s trailed by 14 and the building was at its loudest. It was a 12-point differential at the half.
The final play was symbolic, Hopkins missing a layup.
Only Jackson had a strong half with 16 of St. John’s 37 points. Hopkins missed 8-of-10 shots, Ejiofor was a non-factor, and Joson Sanon was minus-15 in his eight minutes and missed four of his five attempts.
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The Johnnies were minus-four on the glass, minus-four in points in the paint and allowed 10 points in transition.
The second half didn’t start better than the way the first half ended. Xavier got two layups and the lead was all the way up to 16.
St. John’s began the long road back by pounding the ball inside. Hopkins scored on a Mitchell feed, igniting a 16-1 burst. Mitchell scored inside on consecutive possessions and when he finished off a steal with a dunk, it was a one-point game. Carroll flipped moment, though, scoring Xavier’s next 11 points.
But with 9:09 to go, he was given a breather, and St. John’s immediately reeled off eight straight points to take its first lead going back to early in the first half on a Hopkins three-point play.
