St. John’s advances to Sweet 16 in spectacular fashion

St. John's guard Dylan Darling celebrates after St. John's defeated Kansas in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 22, 2026, in San Diego.  AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

By Ryan Schwach

The St. John’s Red Storm punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time in a quarter century on Sunday night, after a spectacular buzzer-beater layup pushed them past Kansas.

St. John’s is headed to Washington D.C later this week for a heavy-weight face-off with Duke for their first trip back to the Sweet 16 since 1999.

Following an emphatic 79-53 win over Northern Iowa in the first round – led by a double-double from star Zuby Ejiofor – the Red Storm was set to take on 4-seed Kansas in the Round of 32 on Sunday evening.

St. John’s commanded most of the game, but squandered a 12-point lead toward the end of the end of the second half, heading into the last minute of play tied up at 65 a piece.

With just a few seconds left on the clock, and a major decision to be made for head coach Rick Pitino, junior Guard Dylan Darling, who had not scored yet in the game, told the veteran coach he wanted the ball in his hands.

“I said, ‘Wait a second. He hasn't scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself,’” Pitino said after the game.

With 3.9 seconds left on the clock, Darling took the inbound pass and charged towards the paint, storming past the Kansas defender, hooking a right-handed layup up and over and into the basket right before the buzzer sounded, winning the game for St. John’s, 67-65.

“To be honest, the ball left my hands and I hit the ground, and I didn't even see the ball go in,” Darling said. “I just heard everybody going crazy, and everybody was jumping around. It was pretty cool.”

“I probably don't deserve this,” the junior from Spokane, Washington added. “I was pretty bad all night long, but my teammates held it down tonight.”

Pitino said he was proud of Darling, whom he affectionately calls “Bells” because he’s “got balls as big as church bells.”

“To want the ball when you haven't made a shot is unbelievable,” Pitino said.

Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins led the team with 18 points, and Ejiofor added 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

Bronx-raised Ian Jackson had 10 points.

“I'm just so jubilant, so happy for the fellas,” said Pitino. “We've taken another step now, so it's just awesome. Proud of our guys, and now it's just starting. The fun is just starting.”

St. John’s has a big task ahead of them on Friday night, where they will face one-seed and historical powerhouse Duke.

Duke is coming into the Sweet 16 matchup following a close contest with 16-seed Siena, and then a more commanding win over eight-seed TCU.

St. John’s will face Duke Friday night at 7:10 p.m.