WASHINGTON  - The fifth-seeded St. John's men's basketball team (30-7) fell in a heartbreak to no. 1 overall seed Duke on Friday in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, 80-75.
 
The Red Storm battled all night long holding a double-digit lead in the second half before the Blue Devils outlasted the Johnnies in the final minutes at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
 
Zuby Ejiofor turned in a stellar stat line finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The St. John's big man became the first player in the program's NCAA Tournament history to record that line in the Big Dance.
 
Ruben Prey splashed a career-high four 3-pointers on perfect 4-for-4 shooting from beyond-the-arc to finish with 12 points.
 
Bryce Hopkins tallied 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Dillon Mitchell recorded 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Hopkins ended the season making 12 of his final 16 attempts (75.0%) from 3-point range.
 
As a team, the Johnnies made 13 triples and shot 40.6% (13-32) from long-range at Capital One Arena.
 


Duke's (35-2) Isaiah Evans (25 points) and Cameron Boozer (22 points) paced the Blue Devils offensively.
 
The Blue Devils got out to an 11-4 lead on the heels of a 7-0 scoring run in the early going. Dylan Darling snapped the spurt with a triple that led directly to a steal off the ensuing inbound for an easy lay-in. The Johnnies took their first lead of the evening after Ian Jackson flushed a 3-pointer to complete a 10-2 spurt, 14-13. Prey and Hopkins nailed triples as the Red Storm advantage reached as many as six, 23-17, at the 9:44 mark.
 
The Blue Devils knotted the score at 23 before Mitchell knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season. In a game of runs, the Blue Devils retook control after orchestrating a 12-2 stretch to hold a 35-28 lead at the under-4 media timeout.
 
Hot 3-point shooting fueled the Red Storm's impressive finish to the opening half. St. John's knocked down four triples in the final three minutes, including a pair from Prey in the last minute to close half on a 12-4 spurt and take a 40-39 edge in the locker room. The Johnnies shot 50.0 percent and made a season-high nine triples in the first 20 minutes.
 
After the Blue Devils came out scoring the first five points of the second period, the Red Storm responded with an 13-0 run that featured three steals turned into fastbreak buckets for Ejiofor and Prey's fourth triple. Duke ended the scoring drought from the line before Ian Jackson closed the 15-1 run with a mid-range that ballooned the cushion to double-digits, 55-45, with 15 minutes remaining.
 
Duke worked its way back and retook the lead with just under eight minutes to play. Hopkins immediately responded with a corner triple as the teams continued to trade blows in the nation's capital.
 
Down the stretch, the Blue Devils built up a six-point lead before Ejiofor hit a 3-pointer with 1:56 to go, pulling within 75-72. The Red Storm climbed within two with 14 seconds left to play. Duke split at the charity stripe giving St. John's a chance to tie in the final moments. A 3-point attempt with four seconds remaining missed the mark as Duke advanced to the Elite Eight, 80-75.
 
The Red Storm ends the 2025-26 campaign as the back-to-back BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Champions and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.