A sunny, oceanside locale for the NCAA Tournament opener surely fits a Big East Conference champion, although everything else surrounding St. John’s return to the big dance has raised questions.
The Red Storm (28-6) won both the Big East regular-season title and the conference tournament, yet secured only a No. 5 seed for a first-round East Region matchup against No. 12 Northern Iowa (23-12) on Friday in San Diego.
The location also means a cross-country flight with star forward and Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor acknowledging he has never been to California. The trip he really wants to make, though, is a visit to the second weekend of the tournament.
Last season, St. John’s returned to the NCAA field for the first time since being a First Four team in 2019 but was eliminated in the second round. Ejiofor said he hopes a challenging non-conference schedule will better prepare the Red Storm this year.
“We battled through adversity and learned a lot about ourselves through those matchups, and we’re truly excited,” Ejiofor said. “… (This) is entirely different, and the guys are ready for it. Nobody wants to lose in the first round.”
Ejiofor leads St. John’s with averages of 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
Since a 77-71 loss to Providence on Jan. 3, the Red Storm have gone 19-1, with the defeat being a particularly rough 72-40 loss against then-No. 6-ranked UConn on Feb. 25. However, the St. John’s run also includes two wins over the Huskies, including an impressive 72-52 victory in the Big East conference title game Saturday.
Ejiofor had team bests of 18 points and nine rebounds, while Bryce Hopkins added 18 points and Oziyah Sellers 14. As a California native, Sellers is embracing the tournament’s opening weekend.
“I know some of my teammates were confused, but I was happy,” Sellers said of the long-distance first-round location. “Close to home. I’ll have some family there, so I’m excited.”
Northern Iowa played four West Coast games earlier this season, winning in overtime at UC Irvine in November, then going 1-1 in neutral-site games in California with a win over Loyola Chicago and a loss to Tulsa. The Panthers also lost 63-58 at Saint Mary’s in December.
“I do think all of the experiences do come into play at some point for you, with the travel out to California and playing good teams on the road,” Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said. “That’s part of why we put together the non-conference schedule that we do. You’re going to play good teams on the road and you’re going to travel some. It helps that we’ve done it.”
Closer to home, the Panthers stumbled to a sixth-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference, then ripped off four consecutive victories in the conference tournament, including a convincing 84-69 win in the title game against Illinois-Chicago on March 8.
Trey Campbell scored 23 points in the victory, while Ben Schwieger added 18 off the bench. Northern Iowa shot 63.3% from the floor, its second-best effort in a game this season, behind the 65.9% the team shot in a victory over Bradley in the conference semifinals on March 7.
“(It was) about the way we played, in terms of the level we played and the consistency we played with and the competitive spirit we had in those games, the confidence we played with,” Jacobson said about the MVC tournament run.
Campbell led the Panthers with 13.7 points and 3.9 assists. Tristan Smith averaged a team-high 5.1 rebounds.
–Field Level Media
