Connect with us

Sports

No. 22 St. John's brings versatile offense into clash at DePaul

NCAA Basketball: Butler at St. JohnJan 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo (2) drives past Butler Bulldogs guard Jamie Kaiser Jr. (7) in the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

To punctuate Tuesday’s visit by No. 22 St. John’s, DePaul has pulled out all the stops.

New York playground legend Rod Strickland, a two-time All-American at DePaul before embarking on a 17-year NBA career, will have his jersey retired at halftime in Chicago.

Also, the legendary Red Panda will perform before the game.

There’s just one thing DePaul forgot: to enter this Big East clash with a head of steam.

The Blue Demons (12-10, 4-7) built an 18-point lead with 13 minutes to go Saturday at Xavier before giving it all away. They dropped a 68-66 decision after the Musketeers made a 12-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer.

That didn’t leave DePaul much time to rebuild its confidence before St. John’s (16-5, 9-1) arrives on a seven-game winning streak.

But the Blue Demons do have something to buoy them: They have won their last four Big East home games. They haven’t done that since the 2006-07 season, and they haven’t won five straight conference home games since 2004-05 as a member of Conference USA.

“This is a really difficult stretch for us,” DePaul coach Chris Holtmann said before the Xavier loss. “Our focus just has to be on what can we do to play better?”

One Blue Demon who likely can’t play much better is CJ Gunn. He drilled four 3-pointers in the second half at Xavier — including a game-tying 25-footer with 9.1 seconds left — and finished with a team-high 19 points.

In Big East action, Gunn leads DePaul with 14.8 points per game and 23-of-64 shooting (35.9%) from 3-point range. Layden Blocker (12.3 ppg, 3.6 apg) and super-sub Brandon Maclin (10.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) also average double figures in league play.

While DePaul enters Tuesday’s game riding a nice winning streak at home, St. John’s hasn’t lost a true road game since Feb. 12, 2025. The Red Storm’s Big East road winning streak sits at eight games and began with last year’s 82-58 win on Feb. 19 at DePaul.

During their current seven-game overall winning streak, six different players have led the Red Storm in scoring: Zuby Ejiofor, Lefteris Liotopoulos, Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins (twice), Dillon Mitchell and Ian Jackson.

While Ejiofor (15.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.0 bpg, 1.2 spg) has lived up to his billing as one of the most versatile players in the nation, Mitchell has made a big leap in recent weeks.

In the Red Storm’s last four games, Mitchell has averaged 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 60.5% from the floor.

This run features three of his four double-doubles this season, which includes his 14-point, 13-rebound, four-assist, three-block outburst on Wednesday, when St. John’s bounced Butler 92-70 to gain coach Rick Pitino’s 901st career win.

“I’m having so much fun watching Dillon Mitchell play,” Pitino said. “I don’t think I’ve said that too many times in my 52 years — of having fun watching a person play. Whether it’s him coming down as a point forward and attacking the basket, or making a great pass, or throwing it to Zuby and him cutting to get open, he really knows how to play.

“It’s not like having another point guard on the floor. It’s like having another coach on the floor, which is great.”

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

DC United, Atlanta United struggle to find chances, play to 0-0 draw

MLS: D.C. United at Atlanta United FCMar 21, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almirón (10) steals the ball against D.C. United defender Silvan Hefti (5) during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Host Atlanta United and D.C. United ended their meeting on Saturday night the same way it started as the Eastern Conference foes played to a 0-0 draw.

Atlanta (1-3-1, 4 points) came into the night having picked up its first win of the season a week ago, a 3-1 victory against the Philadelphia Union to give Atlanta five goals over its previous two matches.

D.C. (2-2-1, 7 points), which snapped a two-match losing streak in its last outing, kept a clean sheet for the second time this season and for the first time since its season opener, a 1-0 win over the Union on Feb. 21.

Chances were at a premium for both sides as neither Atlanta’s Lucas Hoyos nor D.C.’s Sean Johnson had much to do in their respective goals. In fact, the best chance of the first half for either side was a Cooper Sanchez’s attempt just outside the box in the 13th minute that Johnson was able to deal with.

D.C., on its end, came close to the opening goal in the 61st minute after poor defending for Atlanta led to a flurry of activity in front of its own net. Hoyos, though, made a save on Jackson Hopkins’ attempt.

In the 83rd minute, Caden Clark had a chance to put D.C. in front, but his attempt struck the right post. Then, in the 87th minute, Brandon Servania’s long-range effort rang off the crossbar.

That was the final meaningful opportunity of the evening for both teams as they each walked off the pitch with a point apiece.

Atlanta held a 64.8% to 35.1% advantage in possession for the match and outshot D.C. 9-4. But it was held scoreless for the third time this season.

Hoyos ended the night with a single save en route to the first clean sheet of his MLS career. Johnson stopped both Atlanta shots he faced.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Charlotte FC set team record for goals, blow out Red Bulls

MLS: Red Bull New York at Charlotte FCMar 21, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Red Bulls New York goalkeeper Ethan Horvath (34) reacts after being scored on by Charlotte FC during the first half at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

Kerwin Vargas and Pep Biel scored in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as Charlotte FC set a team record for goals and pulled away for a 6-1 rout of the visiting New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.

Biel made the pass that led to Idan Toklomati finishing off a header in the 14th minute and Charlotte (2-1-2, 8 points) survived New York attempting 10 shots and holding possession for a little over 60% for the first half.

After scoring four goals in its first four matches, Charlotte finished it off early in the second half by capitalizing on miscues by the Red Bulls.

Vargas scored from the center of the box after New York’s Omar Valencia overran the ball trying to intercept a pass from Djibril Diani. After securing possession, Vargas put a left-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner of the net.

In the 52nd, New York’s Gustav Berggren was shown the red card and kicked out for a foul on Toklomati, resulting in a free kick.

Biel took the kick and his left-footed shot from outside the box found a gap in New York’s eight-man wall and cruised into the bottom left corner.

Wilfried Zaha also scored in the 68th as Charlotte matched the team record of four goals they set five previous times. Archie Goodwin finished off the rout with a goal in the 77th and another in the third minute of stoppage time.

Julian Hall scored late for New York, which attempted 23 shots.

Goalie Kristijan Kahlina made seven saves. He solidified the blowout with consecutive saves on Mohammed Sofo and Valencia in a span of two minutes shortly after Charlotte took a three-goal lead.

New York (2-2-1, 7 points) tied a team record by allowing six goals for the fourth time and first instance since a 6-2 loss at Inter Miami on May 4, 2024. The Red Bulls have been outscored 9-1 in their two losses under first-year coach Michael Bradley.

New York goalie Ethan Horvath allowed six goals on 10 shots.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Luke Kennard's last-second shot beats Magic; Lakers' win streak at 9

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando MagicMar 21, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard (10) reacts after hitting a game winning basket at the buzzer against the Orlando Magic in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Luke Kennard drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining on Saturday to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-104 victory over the host Orlando Magic.

Trailing by two with 2.6 seconds left, Marcus Smart inbounded a pass to a wide-open Kennard, with the Lakers’ sharpshooter hitting his third 3-pointer of the game and clinching the team’s ninth straight win.

Los Angeles (46-25) was led by Luka Doncic’s 33 points and eight assists, while Austin Reaves had 26 points and Kennard had 13. LeBron James scored 12 points and passed Robert Parish for most games played in NBA history with 1,612.

Orlando (38-32) was paced by Paolo Banchero’s 16 points and Jalen Suggs’ 14. Wendell Carter Jr. and Jevon Carter added 13 apiece for the Magic, who lost their fourth straight.

Trailing by four in the third quarter, Los Angeles’ 12-0 run was capped with James’ layup to give the visitors a 78-70 edge.

From there, Orlando finished the third on a 17-4 run, holding the Lakers to just one made field goal across the final six minutes of the quarter.

After falling behind by seven to start the fourth, Los Angeles went on a 10-2 run — which included Reaves’ six points — to take a 92-91 advantage with 6:31 left.

James’ layup cut the Lakers’ deficit to a point at the 2:02 mark, before Banchero’s basket gave Orlando a 100-97 lead. Doncic and Carter then traded jumpers on the team’s subsequent possessions.

Banchero then hit two free throws to push the Magic’s lead to five with 50 seconds remaining.

After Reaves’ layup, the Lakers forced an Orlando miss on the other end. Reaves then missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Deandre Ayton got the offensive rebound and was fouled, splitting the free throws to leave the Lakers’ deficit at two.

Suggs then threw the ball away for an Orlando turnover with 4.1 seconds left, leading to Kennard’s game-winner.

After setting the new record, James’ fast-break dunk helped Los Angeles grab an early 6-0 lead.

Doncic’s fadeaway jumper gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead at 30-20. The margin grew to 14 on Reaves’ dunk, before Orlando finished the opening quarter on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit in half.

The run continued into the second quarter as the Magic answered Reaves’ floater with a 13-0 run, stamped with Tristan da Silva’s floater to put Orlando ahead by six.

After Suggs’ stepback trey, Reaves beat the first-half buzzer with a mid-range jumper, trimming the Lakers’ halftime deficit to 65-62.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading