NEW YORK — With another St. John’s championship salted away, Zuby Ejiofor walked slowly to the sideline with seconds remaining, tears trickling down the senior forward’s face as he lowered his 6-foot-9 frame for multiple hugs.

Moments later, in a fitting scene, he and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino climbed a ladder together to cut down the nets at Madison Square Garden.

No argument anymore about who owns the Big East these days. St. John’s has toppled UConn.

Ejiofor had seven blocks, nine rebounds and three steals to anchor a tenacious defensive performance that carried No. 13 St. John’s to its second straight Big East tournament title Saturday night with a 72-52 blowout of sixth-ranked UConn.

Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins each scored 18 points for the top-seeded Red Storm (28-6), who became the first team to win consecutive Big East tournament titles since Villanova took three in a row from 2017-19.

“What a beautiful moment. What a surreal moment,” Ejiofor said. “We had a target on our backs all year.”

Adding to their resurgent rise under the 73-year-old Pitino, the Johnnies joined UConn in 1998 and ’99 as the only Big East programs to win both the regular-season and tournament crowns in back-to-back seasons.

It was the fifth Big East tournament title in school history and the first time the Johnnies have accomplished the feat in consecutive years. They are 11-1 when seeded No. 1 at MSG, one of their home courts during the regular season.

“This championship means the world to us. It means the world to our fans,” Pitino said during the postgame celebration on the court. “I’m so proud of every one of our players.”

Ejiofor was selected the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, his latest in a string of accolades this week that included Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He’s the first player to win all those awards in the same season.

Oziyah Sellers scored 14 points for St. John’s, which took two of three meetings this season between the two conference powerhouses and turned the tables after an embarrassing 72-40 loss at rival UConn on Feb. 25.

“We never mentioned revenge,” Pitino said.

The dominant Johnnies never trailed in the tournament, either, and won their six games in this event by an average of 16 points the past two years – all by double digits.

In a matchup of the past two Big East Tournament champions, the second-seeded Huskies (29-5) were held nine points below their previous season low. They went the last 8:03 without a field goal, missing 13 straight shots while falling to 1-4 against St. John’s the last two seasons.

UConn remained tied with Georgetown for the most Big East Tournament championships at eight.

“I didn’t crush them in there,” said Dan Hurley, who coached the Huskies to consecutive national championships in 2023 and ’24. “They’re crushed. We laid an egg. We laid an egg in something we desperately wanted to win.”

Banging away with Ejiofor down low in their beefy matchup of All-Big East big men, Tarris Reed Jr. scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half for UConn. Point guard Silas Demary Jr. was helped off the floor late with a left ankle injury, which could be costly heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Hurley said he initially heard the injury was a very mild sprain and hopes “it’s not something that lingers.”

With their fans in a split crowd roaring at The Garden, the Red Storm ran out to a 10-0 lead, built a 17-point cushion late in the first half and went into the break with a 40-27 advantage.

It was the largest halftime deficit this season for the Huskies, who committed 11 turnovers and shot 36% from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

“All credit to St. John’s. They jumped us to start the game,” Hurley said. “St. John’s is built incredibly well to play in this conference.”

St. John’s extended the margin to 18 early in the second half before the Huskies responded with a 13-2 spurt that trimmed the gap to 49-42 with 12:34 left, revving up their own chanting fans. But that was as close as they got.

Thinking his players looked tired, Pitino took a timeout and said he told them: “‘Johnnies don’t fatigue. Johnnies don’t surrender.'”

When play resumed, Hopkins hit a jumper and Ejiofor drained a 3-pointer before scoring in the post. Dylan Darling later scored the first six points of a 13-0 surge down the stretch capped by another 3 from Ejiofor, and the Red Storm won going away.

“We knew they were going to make their runs. But we knew we had to fight back and that’s exactly what we did,” Ejiofor said.

It was the third time UConn and St. John’s squared off for the Big East tournament title, after splitting matchups in 1999 and 2000. And this marked the first time the championship game featured two of the conference’s seven charter members since the Johnnies beat the Huskies 80-70 in that 2000 game.

The hot-tempered Hurley was whistled for a technical foul 7:26 into the game after stamping his feet loudly on the sideline, apparently wanting a foul called as Demary made a reverse layup.

St. John’s scored the first eight points in all three tournament games this week and led for more than 118 of 120 minutes.

Pitino won his 16th conference tournament title, fifth in the Big East after three with Louisville. He is the first Big East coach to win back-to-back at two schools.

“Three straight nights we didn’t relent at all. And that’s great going into the (NCAA) tournament,” Pitino said.

SAN ANTONIO — Spurs star Victor Wembanyama returned from a one-game absence Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets and showed off his full arsenal of skills in leading San Antonio to a 115-102 victory to close a six-game homestand at Frost Bank Center.

Wembanyama poured in a game-high 32 points with 12 rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and two steals. The performance marked Wembanyama’s second career outing with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, multiple blocks and multiple steals, tying him with George Gervin for the third most such games in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. Wembanyama trails Tim Duncan (9) and David Robinson (19).

“It’s just a progression, in general,” Wembanyama said. “There were many aspects of the game where we dominated them, and that shows because we won three out of four quarters.”

San Antonio improved to a league-best 17-2 since Feb. 1, including a 5-1 mark during its six-game homestand.

“It’s been really good for us to go through these games and find out about other teams and find out about ourselves,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We’ve had to be in a lot of different types of games, whether it’s a little bit open or having to cover a lot of distance defensively, matching some physicality, late-game execution, seeing different ways that people guard us. All these experiences are, hopefully, lessons we turn into knowledge and wisdom moving forward.”

Wembanyama started the game hot, scoring 11 points in the first quarter on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He had a game-high 18 points at the half.

He showed off his playmaking skills in the third quarter, finding center Luke Kornet for two alley-oops. In the fourth quarter, Wembanyama threw an alley-oop to Stephon Castle, who caught it for a two-handed reverse dunk.

“It’s one more weapon,” Wembanyama said of his playmaking. “My playmaking most of the time happens by rolling and not even touching the ball, getting guys open by my positioning with my gravity. But I can do that, too.”

Wembanyama sat out Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets because of a sore right ankle after testing it during pregame warmups. But the organization was optimistic he’d return for Saturday’s matchup against the Hornets.

Wembanyama can miss three more regular-season games before he’s ineligible for NBA awards.

“Victor has the longest things he wants to do that are important probably in the history of basketball,” Johnson said. “They all are important to me as well. There’s a lot that goes into that, and at times, we have to make tough decisions. Because on that long list, there are still things that we prioritize and put on the top of the list. But that guy, I think, is going to challenge us as long as we’re all here to continue to match that desire to keep checking things off that list.”

Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper missed Saturday’s contest because of a right calf contusion. Johnson said Harper is day-to-day, adding there is “no long-term concern” regarding the injury. Harper missed 10 games in November because of a left calf strain.

Former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill, who was part of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, delivered a pregame speech to Team USA players ahead of their World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game against Canada Friday. 

Team USA beat Canada 5-3 to advance to the semifinals after O’Neill’s pep talk. But the speech also received criticism from left-wing social media users within and beyond the U.S. 

Many who criticized the speech condemned its pro-war messaging and association of war with American values. 

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Other Americans praised the speech and fired back at the critics. 

“It’s unfathomable that the comment section is filled with people upset about an American hero telling a team representing America about a heroic story about a mission his team accomplished. We went from a patriotic country post 9/11 to a country full of terrorist sympathizers,” one X user wrote.

Another user wrote, “Epic! Well played by @USABaseball. American hero and legend in the clubhouse.” 

TEAM USA BASEBALL MANAGER MARK DEROSA RESPONDS TO CRITICISM AMID MOUNTING CONTROVERSY

Manager Mark DeRosa of Team USA during the singing of the national anthem before a game against Great Britain at Daikin Park March 7, 2026, in Houston, Texas.  (Gabriella Ricciardi/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The U.S. will play the Dominican Republic in a WBC semifinal Sunday. 

The win over Canada marked the third time in less than a month that Americans have crushed Canadian sports dreams on the world stage after dramatic victories over Canada in both the men’s and women’s Olympic hockey gold medal games last month. 

O’Neill wasn’t the only one to hype up Team USA before the game. 

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa revealed that USA hockey hero Jack Hughes, who scored the winning goal in the gold medal game against Canada at the Olympics, reached out to the American baseball players before Friday’s game. 

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Aaron Judge of the United States shakes hands with teammates before a game against Canada during the 2026 World Baseball Classic at Daikin Park March 13, 2026, in Houston, Texas.  (Houston Astros/Getty Images)

“Jack Hughes sent the boys a nice little fire-up message that I put out on their group chat,” DeRosa said during a press conference Thursday ahead of the game.

“I know there are some talks about some hockey jerseys being sent in tomorrow for the guys to wear during BP or out and about in the clubhouse.”

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