No. 15 St. John’s is hearing comparisons to the team that made the Final Four in the 1984-85 season.
After completing a perfect month, the Red Storm will attempt to earn their eighth straight win Saturday afternoon when they host Providence in New York.
The Red Storm (18-3, 9-1 Big East) are unbeaten since a 57-56 loss at Creighton on Dec. 31. They completed their first perfect month since the 1984-85 team starring Chris Mullin went 8-0 in January 1985 as part of a 19-game winning streak.
The hot streak this season saw St. John’s re-enter the AP Top 25 poll two weeks ago at No. 20 and rise to No. 15 in this week’s poll. The Red Storm are coming off a second lopsided victory in three games, as they rolled to a 66-41 victory at Georgetown on Tuesday.
St. John’s, which allowed under 60 points for the third time in four games, led by as many as 30.
“We really just focus on getting better, (and) this team is getting better and better,” coach Rick Pitino said. “That defense we play. Do you know how many times first (and) second half that the clock was winding down and they had to take a desperation shot? That was great switching. That was great covering the gaps. So we’re getting better and better, and all we want to do is be the best.”
The Red Storm held the Hoyas to 24.6 percent from the field.
RJ Luis Jr. led St. John’s in scoring three straight games when he tallied 73 points from Jan. 11-18. Luis has totaled 26 points in his past two games on 10-of-27 shooting from the field.
St. John’s got 13 apiece from Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond against Georgetown.
Ejiofor is 12 of 17 from the field in the past two wins and has shot at least 50 percent in all but four games. Richmond followed a 19-point showing with his fourth straight game in double figures.
Meanwhile, Providence (11-10, 5-5) held a 13-point halftime lead before taking a 72-70 loss to St. John’s on Dec. 20 in the teams’ first meeting of the season. The Friars, however, are 4-2 in their past six games.
Providence is coming off its closest margin of victory when it hung on for a 69-67 win over Seton Hall on Tuesday. The Friars survived allowing a 25-9 run in the second half and saw Seton Hall miss two of three free throws with three seconds left that would have potentially forced overtime.
“Disappointing,” Providence coach Kim English said. “Some things we have to clean up, and we will. You better do it before you play St. John’s, who is one of the best in the country.”
The Friars earned the win by getting 16 points from season scoring leader Jayden Pierre, who shot 13 of 21 from the field in his past two games after going 6 of 28 in the previous three.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim added 13 points and Bensley Joseph 12 as the Friars tried to find ways to compensate for the absence of Wesley Cardet Jr., who sat out for the second time in three games with a knee injury that could keep him out Saturday.
–Field Level Media
