MILWAUKEE — Oziyah Sellers came off the bench for the first time this season, and the senior sharpshooter got on track from beyond the arc.
Sellers scored 12 points and hit a pair of 3s, as No. 17 St. John’s rallied for a 76-70 victory over Marquette to extend its winning streak to 12 games.
Sellers entered the game in a 7-for-29 stretch from deep.
“It felt good to obviously hit 3s. Shooters are going to shoot through misses,” he said. “I’m not going to stop shooting.”
Coach Rick Pitino laughed, because he has been on Sellers to take more shots.
“I’m going to yell it at him, shooters are going to shoot,” the coach said with a smile.
Pitino started Joson Sanon in place of Sellers because he wanted to give the sophomore confidence. Sanon scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting. Sellers also missed a practice due to a sore ankle.
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“My ankle is feeling a little better,” said Sellers, who was a team-high plus-12 in 23 minutes.
Zuby Ejiofor wasn’t at his best on Wednesday. He missed seven of 10 shots from the field and didn’t have a single rebound at halftime.
But the senior came through late. He started a critical 9-0 run with a basket, and in the second half, Ejiofor had nine points, six rebounds and three blocks.
“That’s a veteran right there,” Pitino said. “He ended up with six rebounds and 10 points when he didn’t have a rebound, didn’t have a basket in the first half.”
This marked St. John’s first game since the Jan. 3 loss to Providence when it committed more turnovers than its opponent. The Red Storm turned the ball over 12 times, compared to 10 by Marquette. … The Johnnies have now won 11 straight Big East road games dating back to last season, extending a program record.
