Welcome to the thread for Thursday’s Big East Tournament quarterfinal game between St. John’s men’s basketball and Providence, as the two programs will complete their intensely bitter trilogy. Please be respectful in the comment section and do not share any illegal streams of the game.
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Game information
Who: 1-seed St. John’s Red Storm (25-6, 18-2 Big East) vs. 9-seed Providence Friars (15-17, 7-13 Big East)
When: Thursday, March 12, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
TV: Peacock/NBC Sports Network
Radio: ESPN New York 880 / 1050
Series History: St. John’s leads all-time series, 69-59. The Red Storm have won five of the last seven meetings with the Friars. In two meetings at the Big East Tournament, Providence won both in 2014 and 2015.
KenPom Predicted Score: St. John’s to win, 87-78 (80% chance of St. John’s win)
Injury news
There is no injury news for Thursday’s Big East Tournament game.
What to watch for
Friar’d Up: Of course, St. John’s and Providence were going to meet for a third time this season after the two teams were involved in a fight that resulted in six ejections and a three-game suspension for Duncan Powell in their last matchup on February 14. The Friars came back from an early 16-point deficit and controlled play in the second half to beat Butler in the first round of the Big East Tournament, 91-81.
They didn’t play like it in those first two meetings, but St. John’s needs to play like a 25-win team that won the Big East regular season title and knows they are facing an under-.500 team that is in all certainty firing their head coach at the end of the season. The Friars humbled the Johnnies in their first meeting at Madison Square Garden this season, outscoring the Red Storm to close the game, 25-9. They were in a good position to complete the sweep, holding a second-half lead before Duncan Powell took a swipe at Bryce Hopkins.
St. John’s cannot mess around this time. They need to drop the hammer.
Twenty-Pieces Galore: Providence was unconscious shooting the rock in their quarterfinal win over Butler, shooting 14-of-27 from deep. Stefan Vaaks, Ryan Mela, and Jaylin Sellers each scored 20 or more points and combined for 74 of the Friars’ 91 points. Vaaks continued to enjoy success at MSG, setting new career-highs in points scored (28) and threes made (8). Earlier in January, he scored 16 points in the Friars’ upset win over St. John’s, including a soul-crushing four-point play late in the second half that tilted momentum in the visitors’ favor.
Big Z: It’s wild how quickly the time flew. Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor will take the Madison Square Garden hardwood for the final time as a St. John’s basketball player, and he’s hoping to lead the Johnnies to back-to-back conference tournament titles for the first time in program history.
In last season’s Big East Tournament, Ejiofor averaged 19.0 points and 6.3 rebounds on 61.8% shooting. Against Marquette in the semifinal, he set a career-high of 33 points to help St. John’s reach the championship game for the first time since 2000.
Back in a New York Groove: This will be Bryce Hopkins’s first time playing in the Big East Tournament since 2023, when he was with Providence, as he missed the last two editions due to injury. In his first and only Big East Tournament game, Hopkins tallied a team-high 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds in a 73-66 loss to the eventual national champions Connecticut. The Johnnies will need Hopkins to turn back the clock and play with that level of aggression in Manhattan against his former team.
Keep Your Guard Up: If St. John’s wants to play deep into March and potentially in April, their backcourt players must be consistent. Ian Jackson put up a team-high 19 points in the blowout win over Villanova, but he only notched three combined points over his final two regular-season games. Joson Sanon hasn’t scored double-figures in back-to-back games since New Year’s Eve. Three-point specialist Oziyah Sellers is shooting 28.8% from deep since the calendar flipped to 2026.
The only player who seems to be the most consistent is Dylan Darling, whose effort levels, perimeter defense, and playmaking ability outstrip those of his fellow guards, regardless of his scoring output.
Pregame links
- Zuby Ejiofor cements his St. John’s men’s basketball legacy by winning Big East Player of the Year
- St. John’s offers Rick Pitino restructured contract, sources say — Roger Rubin, Newsday
- Former St. John’s signee Adam Oumiddoch committed to Big East rival Villanova on Wednesday night
- Kim English thinks the St. John’s-Providence scuffle on February 14 was “overblown”
