RJ Luis Jr scored 21 points as seventh-ranked St. John’s survived several shaky stretches before clinching its first outright Big East regular season title since 1985 with a 71-61 victory over Seton Hall Saturday afternoon in New York.
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2) improved to 32-5 in their past 37 games since coach Rick Pitino ranted about his team’s lack of athleticism following a 68-62 loss to Seton Hall on Feb. 18, 2024.
Zuby Ejiofor added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Storm shot 43 percent. Deivon Smith added 10 points while Kadary Richmond contributed nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists against his former team.
Former Red Storm guard Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 18 points and Isaiah Coleman added 15 for the Pirates, who shot 52.1 percent. The Pirates (7-22, 2-16) missed 9 of 11 3-point tries and 12 of 21 free throws.
With Pitino wearing a white suit in front of the third straight sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s never led by more than 11 but made enough plays to enjoy a modest celebration on the floor after the final buzzer.
Seton Hall forged a 49-49 tie on a jumper by Coleman with 10:01 left, though St. John’s responded, taking a trio of seven-point leads on baskets by Luis, Richmond and Ejiofor.
The Red Storm took a 66-58 lead on a free throw by Luis with 2:26 left, then clinched their latest win when he hit two more free throws with 87 seconds left to make it 68-58.
St. John’s missed its first eight shots and trailed by eight when Coleman sank a 3 with 15 1/2 minutes left. The Red Storm roared back with a 12-2 run and took their first lead on a dunk by Luis with 12:19 remaining.
St. John’s took a 25-20 lead on a jumper by Richmond with 5:06 left and another five-point lead on a free throw by Ejiofor less than a minute later but could not pull away.
The Pirates took a 28-27 lead when Garvey Dual stole the ball from Smith with 2:26 left and found Coleman for a breakaway dunk four seconds later, forcing St. John’s to use a timeout. Luis sank an open 3 from the right side and threw down a thunderous two-handed putback dunk in the final 95 seconds as St. John’s took a 34-30 lead by halftime.
St. John’s struggled to gain separation early in the first 10 minutes of the second as Seton Hall tied the game twice and was within one point on six occasions. The Red Storm took a 57-52 lead on a difficult layup by Smith with 8:04 left and gradually finished it off from there.
–Field Level Media
