OMG St John's beats Kansas! 1st time to Sweet 16 since 1999.
- snitzoid
- Mar 23
- 3 min read
Honestly, next to the birth of my children this was the greatest thrill of my entire life. I can't get enough of this stuff.
St. John’s beats Kansas at buzzer in March Madness thriller to reach first Sweet 16 since 1999
By Zach Braziller, NY Post
Published March 22, 2026
SAN DIEGO — “Church Bells” arrived at the perfect time.
Access the St. John's beat like never before
Dylan Darling, the Idaho State transfer in the midst of a massive shooting slump, didn’t flinch when everything had suddenly gone sideways.
A 14-point lead has vanished.
Only 3.9 seconds remained.
He went over to coach Rick Pitino.
“Run ‘Power,’ ” he told the Hall of Famer, which is a high screen-and-roll between Darling and Zuby Ejiofor.
Pitino was stunned.
Darling hadn’t scored a point.
He had missed 16 straight 3-point attempts.
He wasn’t ice-cold — the southpaw point guard was frozen.
Yet, he wanted the ball.
“So I walk away and I said, ‘Wait a second. He hasn’t scored a bucket and he wants to run a play for himself.’ I’m thinking as I’m walking, but he’s ‘Bells,’ ” Pitino said.
He put the ball in Darling’s hands, and the smallest player on the floor became a St. John’s hero.
His right-handed layup at the buzzer sent the fifth-seeded Johnnies to a dramatic 67-65 win over Kansas and the program’s first Sweet 16 berth since 1999.
Darling strutted after it dropped and was immediately mobbed by his jubilant red-clad teammates.
“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.”
He later added: “I was just happy to hit the shot, because if I didn’t, Coach P might’ve killed me. I would’ve had to pay for my own flight home.”
Bryce Hopkins makes St. John’s March Madness history as shooting tear continues
St. John’s (30-6) will meet Duke in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Washington, D.C., its first trip to that round in 27 years.
After winning the Big East regular-season and postseason titles each of the past two seasons, the Johnnies’ goal was to advance deep into the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s my last year in college, we haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since 1999,” Ejiofor said. “I wasn’t even born yet. I know Johnnies Nation is really proud, really excited.”
St. John's Red Storm guard Dylan Darling (0) celebrates after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half of an NCAA Tournament game.
Kansas was able to use four fouls to stall St. John’s because it was under the limit.
With 3.9 seconds left, the Red Storm inbounded the ball to Darling. Ejiofor came out to set a high-ball screen, but Darling went to his right for the game-winning basket with the lane open.
They were his only points of the game.
“That’s why we call him ‘Church Bells,’ ” Bryce Hopkins said. “He lives up to those big moments for sure.”
In mid-February, after Darling hit a game-winning 3-pointer at Xavier, Pitino joked that he had “balls the size of church bells.”
Boy, was he right.
Ejiofor led St. John’s with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists against his old team, and Hopkins also had 18 points and a St. John’s NCAA Tournament record six 3-pointers.
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