It was a forgettable night for Zuby Ejiofor, until the end.
In the first half the valuable junior big man logged just eight minutes due to foul trouble.
He struggled against Butler 7-footer Andre Screen in the second half.
But with the game on the line, Ejiofor came up big.
He scored six big points in the final 5:48, helping power seventh-ranked St. John’s to a hard-fought, 76-70 win over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse to clinch at least a share of the Big East regular season title.
“The coaching staff and my teammates kept on trusting me throughout the entire game,” said Ejiofor, who finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes. “Yeah, I was having a bad game, but I tend to stay level-headed no matter how the game is going. This was a little bit of frustration in the first half for me. As leader, [I have to] do whatever it takes to get the win — whether it is defending or scoring — and that’s exactly what I did in the last five minutes.”
Even on an off night, Ejiofor showed how valuable he is.
When he was on the floor, St. John’t outscored Butler by 16 points.
When he wasn’t, Butler was plus-10 across 17 minutes.
Playing 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 in the second half, according to coach Rick Pitino.
He fell awkwardly on a drive to the basket. But Scott returned to the game.
Freshman guard Jaiden Glover wasn’t with the team.
He recently underwent surgery to repair torn tendons in his right wrist.
He is out for remainder of the season.
