St. John's beats Seton Hall in Big East quarterfinals to improve NCAA Tournament chances
This one ought to do it.
St. John’s finally found a solution for Seton Hall on Thursday in its most important game of the season, earning a victory that should send it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
The Red Storm (20-12) led by five at halftime, scored nine of the first 10 points after the break and then held the Pirates at arm’s length the rest of the way for a 91-72 Big East Tournament quarterfinal victory before a sellout crowd of 19,812 at the Garden.
St. John’s will make its first appearance in the Big East semifinals since 2000 — coincidentally the last season the program won an NCAA Tournament game — and is riding a six-game winning streak.
The fifth-seeded Red Storm will meet top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Connecticut in the 5:30 p.m. semifinal at the Garden on Friday. The Huskies (29-3) beat No. 9 Xavier, 87-60, in the early quarterfinal on Thursday.
St. John’s nearly pulled a December upset of UConn in Hartford before losing by four. It hosted the Huskies on Feb. 3 and lost, 77-64.
When St. John’s coach Rick Pitino was asked if he believes his team has done enough for selection into the field of 68 that will be announced on Sunday, he replied, “We’re trying to win the Big East title.
“We know Connecticut is a great team. We know they’re one of the best teams in the country . . . but certainly we’ve had a great year. We’re a hot team . . . We’re going to try to win this Big East crown.”
The Red Storm have not been beaten since the Feb. 18 loss to Seton Hall that was their eighth defeat in 10 games. That loss left them in ninth place in the conference and seemed to leave any hope of making The Big Dance unlikely. It was their second loss to the Pirates.
Pitino said that around that time, even some university administrators were resigned to missing the NCAAs.
“They said, ‘You started so well and I think everybody’s expectations were a little too high . . . it’s a good season. Let’s just finish up, and it’s a good season,’ ” he recounted. “I could sense that, in their minds, it was over. In our minds, it was just beginning, because March is what it’s all about in college basketball. We told the guys, ‘You’ve got to play your best basketball going into March’ and we’ve had [six] elimination games now . . . and these guys rose to the occasion.”
“I always knew it was this level of this team to play this caliber,” said Nahiem Alleyne, whose 14 points off the bench were part of the Red Storm reserves outscoring the Pirates’ bench 37-7. “We have a very talented team all [through] the bench. It’s great that we’re playing like this in March.”
St. John’s had six players score in double figures, outscored Seton Hall 42-26 in the paint and went 19-for-20 from the free-throw line.
RJ Luis Jr. had 18 points and nine rebounds and Joel Soriano — in his best performance in weeks — had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan Dingle added 14 points and Daniss Jenkins and Chris Ledlum scored 11 points apiece for the Red Storm.
Al-Amir Dawes scored 22 points, St. John’s transfer Dylan Addae-Wusu had 15 and Kadary Richmond added 13 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Seton Hall (20-12), which still has a reasonable chance to be selected for one of the last at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
The key part of St. John’s strategy was playing fast, what Pitino termed “racehorse basketball.” The goal of it was two-pronged: to wear down a Seton Hall team with a short bench and keep the Storm moving and creating. The 91 points tied their second-highest scoring output of the season.
“I feel that takes the pressure off teams,” Pitino said. “When you’re in the open court and you’re running and you’re having to move the ball, pass the ball and cut, you’re not overthinking in the halfcourt. And we did that tonight.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
