Rick Pitino to St. John’s Star Zuby Ejiofor: ‘You’re Going to Make Me Retire’

A ranked matchup between two bitter Big East rivals lived up to the hype. No. 22 St. John’s got an upset victory over No. 3 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, and Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino was all smiles after the game with his star big man, Zuby Ejiofor. “You know you’re going to make me retire? Because I’m not living life without you,” Pitino joked to Ejiofor in his postgame press conference after the Red Storm got an 81-72 win over the Huskies. Ejiofor finished the Friday night win with 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals. He went 6 of 10 from the field, while knocking down one 3-pointer and going 8 of 10 from the charity stripe. Elsewhere for St. John’s, Dillon Mitchell had 15 points and six rebounds, while Bryce Hopkins had 14 points and six rebounds. When Ejiofor and Mitchell left the podium in the postgame press conference, Pitino told them they had a “5 a.m.” curfew with a smile. The ranked win over the Huskies moved the Red Storm to 18-5 overall and 11-1 in Big East play this season. Moreover, the victory moved Pitino into a tie with Roy Williams for third place in wins by a head coach in men’s college basketball history at 903. On the season, Ejiofor, who’s in his third season at St. John’s after spending his freshman campaign at Kansas, is averaging 15.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, two blocks and 1.2 steals per game. Last season, Ejiofor earned All-Big East honors in a campaign that saw St. John’s win the Big East and earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Next up for St. John’s is a home matchup against Xavier on Monday, Feb. 9 (6:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).