Rick Pitino gets St. John's to Big East regular-season title in Year 2
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks to the fans after defeating Seton Hall to win the Big East regular season championship at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Credit: Brad Penner
The roar, similar to the sounds of subway and commuter trains entering and leaving Penn Station a few floors below the court, rumbled through Madison Square Garden. Built up over four decades and passed down from generation to generation, some pent-up energy needed to be released.
And so it was when No. 7 St. John’s outlasted Seton Hall, 71-61, on Saturday and Zuby Ejiofor held the Big East regular-season championship trophy aloft for the sixth time in program history. It was the Red Storm’s second outright title, to go with the celebrated 1984-85 season.
“We got to experience the energy inside the arena and it’s a surreal feeling,” said Ejiofor, clad in a gray Big East champions T-shirt. “Making history, it means a lot.”
St. John’s (26-4, 17-2) has won five in a row and finished the home portion of the 2024-25 season with an 18-0 record. St. John’s hadn’t been undefeated at home since 1931.
Which, theoretically, should be cause for celebration.
Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr. and coach Rick Pitino went out of their way during Friday’s on-campus pregame media availability to tell reporters that the team decided it would not cut down the nets if it won the game.
They explained that the Red Storm have one more regular-season game, next Saturday at Marquette, and then the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. Essentially, they said, there is more to do.
The 19,812 who filled the Garden, plus a national television audience on CBS, expected to witness a coronation four decades in the making, but what transpired was an old-fashioned Big East fistfight.
St. John’s, as it has all season, found a way to win despite shooting 23-for-53 (43.4%) from the field, including 4-for-13 (30.8%) from beyond the arc and 21-for-33 (63.6%) from the foul line.
The Red Storm turned 13 turnovers into 17 points and limited the Pirates to 2-for-11 shooting from three-point range.
“Defense wins championships,” said Luis, who scored 21 points. “The type of roster that we have, we’re long, athletic; we’re able to switch one-through-five, so just getting in on the defensive end really helps us.”
Especially when the Red Storm struggle offensively.
St. John’s led 34-30 at halftime despite misfiring on 20 of its 32 shots from the field and committing seven turnovers.
So, then, why did the Red Storm have a lead over Seton Hall (7-22, 2-16) after the opening 20 minutes?
Luis, primarily. He scored 14 points in the first half, punctuated by a two-handed follow dunk of Kadary Richmond’s missed jumper with less than a second remaining.
St. John’s needed Luis’ offensive production because senior forward Aaron Scott was limited to 2 minutes, 50 seconds of playing time because of what Pitino called a hamstring injury after Wednesday’s 76-70 win over Butler.
Scott was in the starting lineup, but Pitino noted: “The first transition on defense, he started limping. The trainer told me he was 70, 80%. I found out real quick he was not 70, 80%.”
Without its fifth-leading scorer (8.2 points per game) and fourth-leading rebounder (4.6 per game), St. John’s turned to Sadiku Ibine Ayo, who contributed eight points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in 30:07.
“He did a solid job,” Pitino said.
Still, St. John’s had only a four-point lead when the second half began, and 10 1⁄2 minutes into the second half, it had been cut to 51-50 after a free throw by Dylan Addae-Wusu (18 points).
The Red Storm responded by scoring 10 of the next 14 points to push the advantage to 61-54.
After a missed free throw by Seton Hall’s Isaiah Coleman (15 points), Ejiofor (17 points, 10 rebounds) sandwiched a layup and two free throws around a jumper by the Pirates’ Godswill Erheriene to stretch the Red Storm’s lead to 65-58.
The advantage grew to 11 when Luis made three of four free throws and Deivon Smith (10 points) hit two free throws with 56 seconds left.
With the outcome decided, all that was left was the celebration. After 40 years, St. John’s had finally returned to the Big East mountaintop.
With more to come, Pitino stressed.
“It’s the beginning,” the Hall of Famer said. “If you said to me at the beginning of the year, are you shocked that you won the Big East? No, I’m not shocked. I’m mildly surprised. If you said to me, are you shocked that you won 26 games? I’m mildly surprised.
“We’re just scratching the potential of St. John’s.”
