SAN DIEGO — Shortly after the buzzer of St. John’s NCAA Tournament opening-round victory, as Zuby Ejiofor was waiting for his on-court television interview, he pulled Ian Jackson aside.
Ejiofor was reminding the sophomore, who had a solid second half after a shaky start in the rout of Northern Iowa, that he is going to be needed as the tournament continues.
“Just trying to pick up my teammate. I saw he was a little bit down,” Ejiofor recalled. “I was telling him that I need him to be aggressive. He’s a tremendous player, even better person. We’re going to definitely need him in this tournament. I was just telling him to not worry about the noise. Just go out there and have fun, smile and play your game.”
Jackson appreciated it. It has been an up-and-down year back home for the Bronx native.
“Super important, especially coming from Zuby, coming from our captain, someone who is a decorated player,” he said. “To know that my teammates need me is super important.”
A lot of St. John’s fans were unhappy to see the team sent out west for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but Oziyah Sellers didn’t mind. He grew up in Hayward, Calif., a seven-hour drive from San Diego, and had a lot of friends and family in attendance in the opener.
“Seeing my family in the crowd definitely gave me some motivation to go out there and play for them,” he said.
With a win on Sunday over Kansas, St. John’s will reach 30 victories for the second consecutive season. The last time that happened was in 1984-85 and 1985-86. … This will mark just the second meeting ever between St. John’s coach Rick Pitino and Kansas’ Bill Self. The only other matchup took place when Pitino was at Iona University during the 2021-22 season. Kansas prevailed by 13.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
