St. John’s men’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament run ends after intense Sweet Sixteen battle with Duke
· Yahoo Sports
The Johnnies left it all out on the court for over forty electric minutes. They traded big play after big play with a proven national title contender. However, they couldn’t close the deal at the end.
St. John’s’ deepest foray through the NCAA Tournament this century ends after three games, as the Red Storm fell to the top-seeded Blue Devils in an 80-75 gauntlet of a Sweet Sixteen matchup.
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Trailing 78-75 after Isaiah Evans split two free throws, St. John’s had one last chance to tie it. Round of 32 hero Dylan Darling shook Dame Sarr loose and pulled up for a deep three with four seconds remaining, but late-game lightning couldn’t strike twice for Darling, missing the basket wide to the left. Duke super freshman Cameron Boozer drew a foul and made a pair of clinching free throws to end the Red Storm’s season and send the Blue Devils into the Elite Eight.
Following a back-and-forth first half, St. John’s used a 15-1 run to capture the lead and expand it to ten points following an Ian Jackson mid-range jumper that put the Johnnies up 55-45 with 15:01 remaining. Yet, Duke mounted a comeback and eventually retook the lead off an Isaiah Evans triple with 7:54 left. The high-pressure Red Storm defense sagged in the final 15 minutes, as the Blue Devils made 13 of their last 17 shots.
The Red Storm appeared to steal momentum back when Bryce Hopkins bolted through the contact and scored a layup while drawing the foul with 4:22 remaining, then Dillon Mitchell hammered Hopkins’ missed and-one free throw in with a putback dunk to push St. John’s ahead 69-67. Duke promptly went on a 7-0 run to re-take the lead for good. On the next possession, Isaiah Evans stepped back and drained another deep shot for his final made field goal on a night he scored a team-high 25 points (10-of-15, 4-of-8 shooting), then Cameron Boozer maintained his balance while banking in a mid-range jumper, drawing the foul on the smaller Ian Jackson, and converting the and-one to give the Blue Devils a two-possession edge.
Duke also received help from guard Caleb Foster in his improbable return from a fractured foot nineteen days ago. Foster scored all of his 11 points in the second half to will the Blue Devils to victory, including a downhill layup against Dylan Darling to give his team a five-point lead with 1:27 remaining.
Boozer and the taller Blue Devils expectedly dominated the paint battle, tallying 40 points in the paint and matching that same total in rebounds, while the Red Storm could only muster 27 boards.
To keep the game snug, St. John’s made up for their struggles inside by going off with an extraordinary three-point shooting night, which they went 13-of-32 (40.6%) from beyond, largely because of their forwards.
Ruben Prey notched a new career-high of 12 points after going a perfect 4-of-4 from deep, nailing three of those triples in the first half, yet he only played four minutes in the second half and his newfound hot touch was surely missed as the Red Storm offense started losing gas during Duke’s rally. Zuby Ejiofor had a team-high 17 points while hitting 2-of-5 from deep, including a late trey to keep hope alive for the Johnnies. Bryce Hopkins had another lights-out shooting performance, posting 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and making both of his long-range attempts. Even Dillon Mitchell got in on the act, making his first three-pointer of the season midway through the first half.
The Red Storm finished the 2025-26 season with a record of 30-7, marking the first time they recorded 30 or more victories in back-to-back seasons since 1985 and 1986. They also made their first appearance in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 1999.