PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Heartbreak at the buzzer nearly a month ago, ecstasy Friday night.
Zuby Ejiofor was in the middle of both dramatic finishes.
His two missed free throws — and a clock miscue — cost St. John’s a big win over Baylor in The Bahamas.
Friday night, he sent the Johnnies to a thrilling 72-70 win over Providence at Amica Mutual Pavilion with his buzzer-beating jumper in the lane.
“It felt amazing,” an ecstatic Ejiofor said after St. John’s rallied from 13 down at halftime of a Big East game to post a win for the first time since 2010. “I’ve never made a buzzer-beater and I’ve always been on the wrong side of a game-winning shot.”
For so much of the night, it looked like the Red Storm (10-2, 2-0 Big East) would fall short.
They started incredibly slow, digging themselves a 16-point deficit.
They were dreadful at the free-throw line, going 11-for-26.
They had numerous opportunities to take command late in the second half, but couldn’t do it.
Until Ejiofor’s sixth offensive rebound of the night.
Until the emerging big man’s basket sent them back to Queens joyful after the school’s first win in front of fans at Providence since 2017.
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“My philosophy is, and Coach [Rick Pitino] says, every shot is essentially my rebound,” said Ejiofor, who authored the program’s first buzzer-beater since the opening round of the 2013 NIT. “I have pride in getting my team a second chance, and that’s exactly what I did. Find a way to get an offensive rebound, put it on the rim and win the game.”
It was a chaotic finish. Deivon Smith’s jumper gave St. John’s a three-point lead with 34.5 seconds remaining, but Bensley Joseph’s 3-pointer pulled Providence even, leaving 18.8 seconds on the clock.
On the other end, Smith drove to the left side of the free-throw line.
His shot came up short.
Ejiofor was there for the 22nd and 23rd second-chance points of the night for the Red Storm.
“Zuby’s a monster,” Pitino said.
Ejiofor led St. John’s with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Smith added 17 points and four assists.
RJ Luis followed with 16 and Kadary Richmond had 10. Joseph scored 17 for Providence (7-6, 1-1), which was without star forward Bryce Hopkins (left knee).
Pitino was thrilled with the Johnnies’ perseverance. Their refusal to give in. Their fight.
After getting shredded in the first half, St. John’s defended at a high level over the final 20 minutes, limiting the Friars to 32 percent shooting from the field and just one made 3-pointer.
Pitino’s team didn’t get down despite all the missed free throws.
“We got very uptight at the foul line, but it never bothered them. They were disappointed, but I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ll get the offensive rebound, get back [on defense], win the game,’ ” Pitino said. “That’s all that counts, win the game. It doesn’t matter if you miss shots, miss free throws, win the game, and we did.
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“I think they’re mentally maturing. Three weeks ago, with missing all those free throws, all those shots, we lose by 12 to 16 points. But they’re maturing mentally and getting tougher because tonight we didn’t have it offensively, and they still found a way to win on the road in a tough environment.”
St. John’s has shown the ability to take a punch. It rallied from 13 down in the second half of an exhibition game win over Rutgers and was able to rebound the next day after that Baylor loss.
It has been a particularly strong second-half team.
But Friday night was different. Friday night was a league game in a place St. John’s rarely wins.
Friday night was on the road in a hostile environment.
So much went wrong throughout the night. It didn’t deter them.
“It really shows that we can fight through adversity when things are down,” Ejiofor said. “We pick each other up, we lift each other up, we play off each other, and we got out with the win.”
