St. John's Basketball Dominates Iona in Near-Perfect Game

The St. John's Red Storm were able to put together a near-perfect game against Iona.

Nov 8, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Quinn Ellis (4) looks to drive past Iona Gaels guard Kevon Vanderhorst (5) in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The St. John’s Red Storm came into their second game of the season against Iona and put together a really strong performance. St. John's was able to win by a score of 104-65 in a lopsided game.

Following a comfortable win over Monmouth, the Red Storm entered Sunday afternoon looking to go 2-0. One of the keys to their win against Monmouth was that they were able to get off to a strong start. 

The defense set the tone early against Monmouth, and that is exactly what they did against Iona. It was a really perfect half for St. John’s, who ended up with a 54-23 lead. 

It was a well-balanced attack for the Red Storm with nine players scoring in the half, and it was the shooting from beyond the arc that helped create separation. St. John’s went six-for-15 from three-point range. 

While it was some good shooting from the Red Storm, what set the tone was the defense. St. John’s was able to force Iona into 15 turnovers, and the Red Storm had seven steals. 

On the flip side, the Red Storm turned it over just twice. Quinn Ellis helped the team get going with four assists in the first half, and also didn’t have a turnover. In terms of scoring, Ian Jackson led the way with 11 points, and Tounde Yessoufou was second with 10 points in the first 20 minutes. 

Jackson Ddealt with a lot of foul trouble in the first game, but he was able to stay on the court in this one and delivered.

Total Domination

Nov 8, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Iona Gaels guard Kevon Vanderhorst (5) drives past St. John's Red Storm forward Keyshawn Hall (7) in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With a big lead at the half, St. John's never let up in the second half either. It was the combination of Jackson and Yessoufou that led the way in this one. Despite not needing to play a whole lot in the second half in the blowout, Yessoufou ended up with 23 points and Jackson followed right behind him with 17.

While the scoring performance by these two was impressive, so was the play of Ellis. The talented guard is being considered one of the best in the country and he looked like it on Sunday. Ellis totaled 11 assists and just one turnover in 24 minutes of work.

Overall, it was a really impressive and near-perfect performance by the Red Storm in this one. On both ends of the court the team was impressive and this will be a game for the team to build upon.

Next up for St. John's will be a matchup aganist Colgate on Wednesday night.