No. 5 St. John's opens Pitino's 3rd season with rout of Quinnipiac

NEW YORK (AP) — Dillon Mitchell scored 18 points, Zuby Ejiofor added 17 and No. 5 St. John's opened its third season under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino by overwhelming Quinnipiac 108-74 on Monday night.

Ian Jackson had 15 points and Joson Sanon, another touted transfer, added 14 off the bench as the new-look Red Storm racked up their most points since beating Mississippi Valley State 119-61 on Nov. 9, 2021.

Coming off a rousing turnaround season that included the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory in 25 years, the reigning Big East champions brought in the nation’s top-rated transfer class to surround Ejiofor, the preseason conference player of the year.

All that hype earned the Johnnies the highest preseason ranking in school history.

St. John’s showed off its new firepower right away, racing to a 19-4 lead 4:40 into the game after a steal and fast-break dunk by Mitchell. Nine players scored in the first 12 minutes, and the margin swelled to 45 with under 5 1/2 minutes remaining.

Playing at Carnesecca Arena on campus, the Red Storm never trailed and won their 12th straight season opener. They haven't lost a home opener since 2003-04, and Pitino improved to 30-1 in his last 31 home openers.

Jaden Zimmerman had 19 points for the Bobcats (0-1), picked to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after taking the past two regular-season titles. Keith McKnight also scored 19 off the bench.

In a pregame ceremony, St. John's showed video highlights of last season and unveiled banners commemorating their Big East regular-season and tournament titles, along with Pitino's national coach of the year award.

The four returning players received their conference championship rings, and Pitino addressed the crowd.

“We're so proud of what we accomplished,” he said, before turning to the upcoming season: “We're going after the biggest prize of them all.”

Up next

Quinnipiac: Will host Central Connecticut on Thursday night.

St. John's: An early test Saturday against No. 15 Alabama at Madison Square Garden. That's the first of 12 regular-season home games scheduled at MSG — most for the Johnnies since 1951-52.

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