Sadiku Ibine Ayo is more than just one of Rick Pitino’s favorite people these days.
He has also become a key part of the bench.
The junior wing played a pivotal role in St. John’s Big East regular-season championship-clinching victory over Seton Hall on Saturday, scoring eight points and adding five rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.
With starter Aaron Scott logging only three minutes because of a hamstring injury, Ibine Ayo was called upon in the 71-61 win, and came up big.
It was reminiscent of his career-high, 15-point effort in a win over DePaul, when RJ Luis Jr. was out.
“You want everyone to have the attitude of Sadiku and Zuby [Ejiofor]. Obviously, everybody can’t have that type of personality,” Pitino said. “That’s God’s gift, always being positive, always working hard. That’s a great gift to have. He has it. He didn’t play great defensively, but nobody did, and he did a lot of good things offensively.”
In the two games following the DePaul win, Ibine Ayo only played a combined 12 minutes but he stayed ready.
The former Iona University player has shown the knack to knock down shots, shooting 36.4 percent from 3-point range.
The 6-foot-6 Ibine Ayo has become a key part of St. John’s.
The tri-captain always brings energy and enthusiasm on the bench.
Now he’s making an impact on the court with his defense and shotmaking, particularly important with sophomore Brady Dunlap and freshman Jaiden Glover out for the remainder of the season with injuries.
Early on, it became clear Scott wasn’t healthy. He came out after 2:50, and didn’t return. Ibine Ayo checked in, and rarely left the floor the rest of the way. St. John’s outscored Seton Hall by 16 points in his 30 minutes.
“He was limping. The trainer told me he was 70-80 percent, and I found out real quick he was not 70-80 percent,” Pitino said of Scott. “We had to go with ‘Diku’ and he did a solid job. Hopefully, we’ll get [Scott] back for next week’s game [against Marquette].”
Former Johnnie Dylan Addae-Wusu made it tough on St. John’s.
The fifth-year senior had 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds in 37 minutes.
During player introductions, Addae-Wusu was applauded by St. John’s fans.
He spent his first three seasons with the Johnnies.
St. John’s completed its first regular-season sweep of Seton Hall since 2013-14.
Its 26 wins are its most since the 1998-99, Elite Eight season, when the Johnnies won 28 games.
Former Knicks star John Starks was in attendance, as was Tom Jurich, Pitino’s athletic director at Louisville.