Zuby Ejiofor totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists as No. 22 St. John’s extended its winning streak to nine games in an 81-72 victory over No. 3 UConn in front of an electric sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden Friday night in New York.

The win marked St. John’s first victory over a top-3 team at MSG since defeating No. 3 Duke on Jan. 30, 2011, and it’s the first time St. John’s has won three consecutive games against UConn since the 1999-2000 season.

Ejiofor posted his fifth double-double and shot 6 of 10 from the field and often exploited his matchup with UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr, helping the Red Storm (17-5, 11-1 Big East) move within a half-game of the first-place Huskies (22-2, 12-1).

Tied at 45 in the second half, the senior center scored seven points in a 15-4 surge and staked the Red Storm to a 60-49 lead with 10:24 remaining.

After that point, St John’s fended off UConn’s comeback attempt that saw the Huskies cut the lead to 66-65 on a layup by Silas Demary Jr. with 4:46 left and 69-67 on a hoop by Alex Karaban with 3:39 left.

Following Karaban’s basket, Dylan Darling hit a 3 over Solo Ball and Ejiofor went around Reed for another hoop to put St. John’s up 74-67 with 2:27 left. The Red Storm finished off their third straight win over UConn by hitting five free throws in the final 57 seconds.

Dillon Mitchell added 15 as the Red Storm outscored the Huskies 42-33 in the final 20 minutes. Bryce Hopkins contributed 14 as the Red Storm shot 50% and gave coach Rick Pitino his 903rd career win to tie Roy Williams for third most all-time.

Demary led the Huskies with 18 points and Karaban added 17 as the duo combined to shoot 14-for-21 from the floor. Reed contributed 12 and Braylon Mullins chipped in 11 as the Huskies lost despite shooting 54.7% and saw their 18-game winning streak come to an end.

The Huskies held a 16-10 lead on a layup by Reed with 13:50 left in the first half before St. John’s scored nine straight for a 19-16 edge on a dunk by Oziyah Sellers a little over two minutes later. The Red Storm pushed their lead to 23-17 on two free throws by Ejiofor with 10:10 left and UConn answered back, taking a 26-25 lead on a Mullins’ 3 with 7:26 remaining.

After St. John’s took a pair of four-point leads, the Huskies forged a 39-39 deadlock by halftime on a drive by Demary with 15 seconds left.

–Field Level Media

Saddiq Bey scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans rallied for a 119-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night in Minneapolis.

Zion Williamson added 29 points on 11-for-13 shooting for New Orleans, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Trey Murphy III added 26 points and made a half-dozen shots from beyond the arc.

Anthony Edwards scored 35 points on 11-for-22 shooting to lead Minnesota, which lost for only the second time in the last seven games. Julius Randle scored 24 points, Bones Hyland chipped in 20 off the bench, and Rudy Gobert registered a double-double with 12 points and 16 boards.

The Pelicans outscored the Timberwolves 30-21 in the fourth quarter, rallying four minutes into the period.

Randle made a jump shot to put Minnesota on top 102-96 with 7:32 remaining.

New Orleans responded with a decisive 11-0 run to grab a 107-102 lead with 4:13 to play. Bey — who shot 10-for-21 — hit a 3-pointer and a driving layup during the run, which also included a free throw, a layup and a 3-pointer by Bryce McGowens.

The Timberwolves regrouped to take a 115-114 lead after Hyland made a 3-pointer with 50.7 seconds to go.

Williamson made a driving layup moments later to put New Orleans on top 116-115, and the Pelicans led the rest of the way, hitting all three of their free throws in the final 35.5. seconds.

Minnesota led 70-56 at the half, thanks to a strong second quarter.

Minnesota went on a 9-0 run thanks to a 3-pointer by Edwards, a layup by Randle, a free throw by Edwards and a 3-pointer by Johnny Juzang, and they outscored the Pelicans 38-22 during the second quarter.

The Timberwolves welcomed new acquisitions Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips on Friday but listed both players as inactive as they adapt to their new team. Minnesota acquired Dosunmu and Phillips from the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.

New Orleans played its first game since dealing Jose Alvarado to the New York Knicks on Thursday. The Pelicans acquired Dalen Terry but waived him before he ever suited up.

–Field Level Media

Two struggling ACC teams will battle to get back into the win column when Stanford hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Atlantic Coast Conference play hasn’t been kind to the Cardinal (14-9, 3-7 ACC), who find themselves marred in a five-game skid. After being dominated 80-50 by then-No. 6 Duke on Jan. 17, Stanford has come up short against Cal, Miami, Florida State and No. 20 Clemson.

In its recent loss to the Tigers, Stanford took a narrow 32-30 lead into halftime, but late-game hiccups and a handful of Clemson free throws led to a 66-64 defeat.

“Tough one for our team because of the result, but our effort was good,” Stanford head coach Kyle Smith said after the loss to Clemson. “It would’ve been nice if we had a whistle go our way, but that didn’t happen. But this was definitely a better effort than we had in our last game. We’ve just got to get out of (this losing streak) somehow.”

Back on Jan. 24, that same Clemson team kicked off a still-active four-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets (11-12, 2-8), who end a two-game road trip through Northern California on Saturday.

Georgia Tech was outscored 43-29 in the first half against Cal its last time out. The Yellow Jackets rallied for 56 second-half points but were held off by the Golden Bears, 90-85. Georgia Tech shot 47.9% from the field but only 34.5% from 3-point range, compared to Cal hitting 12 of its 23 shots from beyond the arc (52.2%).

“We played well enough to stay in a game. We didn’t win the margins to win the game,” Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire said. “Give (Cal) credit, they shot well from three. We didn’t do a great job in the first half.”

Leading scorer Kowacie Reeves Jr. (15.1 points per game) was scoreless in just six minutes against the Golden Bears, playing through an unspecified injury. Akai Fleming scored 19 points off the bench for the Yellow Jackets in the loss, his first time leading the team in scoring since Nov. 29.

Ebuka Okorie continues to lead Stanford with 21.6 points and 3.2 assists per game.

Saturday’s game marks the second meeting between Georgia Tech and Stanford since the Cardinal joined the ACC. The Yellow Jackets won the first meeting last February in Atlanta, 60-52.

–Field Level Media