St. John's Basketball Passes Litmus Test Against Texas Longhorns

The St. John's Red Storm were able to secure an impressive win over the Texas Longhorns in their final tune-up before the regular season.

Oct 25, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) gestures after making a three point shot in the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Following a four-overtime game against Rutgers, the St. John’s Red Storm were back in action against the Texas Longhorns. 

Leading into this game, Rick Pitino was not shy about talking about the team not being where he wanted them to be at this stage. It was a challenging summer for St. John’s, and while this group could end up being his most talented with the team, there is still work to do. 

On Sunday afternoon, the Longhorns presented them with an excellent early test. Right from the start, the Red Storm came out fast, and they looked sharp early on. 

The Longhorns feature a big lineup, and that was a concern coming into the matchup. However, early on, St. John’s did an excellent job with their help defense, and the team was able to get out in transition early on. 

St. John's beats Texas in final exhibition game

Oct 25, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) dunks past Texas Longhorns guard Bo Ogden (5) in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It is pretty clear that the Red Storm are going to be at their best when they are playing fast. That was the case early on, and it resulted in an early lead. 

As the first half continued on, St. John’s was a bit touch-and-go in the halfcourt, but it was Tounde Yessoufou who led the way for the team with 16 points. However, both Ian Jackson and Keyshawn Hall were in double figures as well. 

Tounde. Yessoufou. 🔨

→ 16 PTS, 3 AST, 5-6 FG pic.twitter.com/DGRJ5FeNlp

— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) October 25, 2026

St. John’s entered the half with an 18-point lead, and the team played really well in most areas. The Red Storm had just six turnovers and were able to record five steals. 

In the second half, foul trouble became a bit of an issue for St. John’s. The Red Storm had team fouls in less than five minutes, and they were in the double bonus before the second television timeout. 

Even though there were a ton of fouls on St. John’s, the team was able to maintain a comfortable lead. With both Ruben Prey and Reed Bailey in foul trouble, Theo Edema was a major contributor off the bench. While he also ended up getting into foul trouble, the minutes he was able to provide were effective.  

Johnnies WIN ‼️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/PJTTqGLuAH

— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) October 25, 2026

Overall, the scoring trio of Hall, Yessoufou, and Jackson were impressive. All three of these players can score 20 points a night and they were impressive. To little surprise, it was another good showing by Quinn Ellis at point guard. With a lot of good scorers around him, Ellis setting things up is going to be important and he did that once again.

St. John's ends the preseason on a high note with an 87-74 victory over the Longhorns. Next up for the Johnnies will be the real deal against Monmouth University on November 2nd.