Pirates Stifled by St. John's in BIG EAST Clash

Tuesday, January 20

New York, N.Y.

7:00 p.m.

Seton Hall University

14-5,4-4Big East

St. John's

14-5,7-1Big East

Seton Hall

St. John's (NY)

1/20/2026 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEW YORK, N.Y. — In hotly-contested BIG EAST clash, the Seton Hall men's basketball team fell to the St. John's Red Storm, 65-60, inside Madison Square Garden.

The Pirates (14-5, 4-4 BE) shot 55% (11-of-20) from the free-throw line and 37.9%% (22-of-58) from the field. The Red Storm (13-5, 7-1 BE) shot 70% from the free-throw line (21-of-30) for the game and 12-of-18 in the second half.

How It Happened
Inside The World's Most Famous Arena, the Pirates found early offensive momentum against St. John's from the opening tip. AJ Staton-McCray got The Hall going early after a driving layup secured the opening point of the game. After already collecting a steal, block and rebound in two possessions, Stephon Payne kept rolling when he completed a putback to put the Pirates up 4-0 in less than 90 seconds of game time.

Eventually, the Red Storm began to find its footing amid the Pirates' stifling defense. However, brimming with confidence, Staton-McCray kept pouring on the offense to keep The Hall in front 9-6 as the clock ticked under 17 minutes.

Despite St John's' response, strong guard play for The Hall opened things up wide offensively. Off the bench, Tajuan Simpkins and Trey Parker lit up the scoreboard, combining for a 9-to-4 run that pushed the Pirates' lead to six, 18-12, as the ten-minute mark approached. However, as the Red Storm ramped up the defensive pressure, the Pirates' offense struggled to maintain a consistent offensive flow. In the span of less than three minutes, The Hall's six-point lead disappeared in a 9-to-2 St. John's run that put the Pirates down one, 23-22, with seven minutes left in the half.

Gotta box out Jacob‼️ pic.twitter.com/SClP7BIIgj
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) January 21, 2026

Over the closing minutes, Simpkins' shooting and Payne's rebounding pushed the Red Storm's defense to the limit, getting The Hall's lead up to as many as eight points, but the lead was minimized to six, 38-32, heading into the halftime break.

Just like the first half, Staton-McCray opened the second half with a bucket to kick off a 9-to-0 run to extend the lead to 15, 47-32, with 16 minutes remaining in the game. Slowly, the Red Storm chipped away at The Hall's lead, bringing it down to as many as five, 50-45, but Elijah Fisher served as a steady force through the midpoint. The senior wing rattled off baskets to keep the lead at seven with nine minutes left.

9⃣-0⃣ run out of the locker room 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/VnFYyzTMO1
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) January 21, 2026

However, The Hall's offense faltered over the remainder of the half. Despite Simpkins and Rivera putting up a fight on both ends, the Pirates' offense could not find any responses to St. John's on the boards or at the rim. Over the remainder of the half, St. John's ended the game on a 23-to-13 run to hand Seton Hall a 65-60 loss.

News & Notes

This was the 116^th matchup all time between the two programs.
- With the loss, The Hall moves to 50-66 all time against Red Storm.
Seton Hall has held 16 of 19 opponents under 70 points this season.
- They've also held 11 of them to 65 points or less.
Staton-McCray led the team with 16 points of 7-of-13 shooting.
Payne tallied a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double.
- This was Payne's third 15+ rebound game this season.
- With that, he becomes the first player since Alexis Yetna in 2022 to record three of those games in a single season.

Up Next
The Pirates return to action on Saturday, January 24, when travel to Chicago, Illinois, to take in the DePaul Blue Demons. The game will be broadcast on truTV with opening tip slated for 5 p.m.`