St. John’s Wins Big East Tournament

 

St. John's celebrates after the clock hit zero. Photo by Jason Schott.

St. John's on the podium with the Big East Tournament championship trophy. 

The St. John’s Red Storm won the Big East Tournament on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, as they cruised past the Creighton Bluejays, 82-66.

By winning the tournament, St. John’s receives the Big East’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is their first appearance since 2019, and Sunday night they will find out what region they’re assigned to in the Selection Show.

This is St. John's first Big East Tournament championship since 2000, ending a 25-year drought that was the longest in the history of the Big East Conference, which was founded in 1980. It eclipsed the 23-year dry spell for Seton Hall, from 1993 to 2016.

St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino is the first coach to lead two programs to Big East Tournament wins, as he also led Louisville to take it three times, in 2009, and then back-to-back in 2012 and '13.

Fittingly, this was like a lot of St. John’s wins this season, as they found themselves trailing Creighton, 28-25, at halftime before coming alive in the second half.

Creighton was up five, at 34-29, in the opening few minutes of the second half before St. John's put together their first offensive burst of the game, a 9-4 run that tied it at 38 on a corner three-pointer from RJ Luis Jr. at the 14:26 mark.

RJ Luis Jr. burying his game-tying three-pointer. 1 of 3 photos by Jason Schott.

St. John’s took their first lead when a Vince Iwuchukwu jumper made it 43-41 with 11:55 left, and after Steven Ashworth briefly gave Creighton the lead back, they responded with a 6-0 run and never looked back.

The game-defining run for the Red Storm began when they trailed 41-38, and literally couldn't miss. They made 14 straight field goals over seven minutes and 12 seconds that led them to make a 32-14 run and take a 70-55 lead on a Luis Jr. layup with 5:16 remaining.

Zuby Ejiofor taking it down the lane to the hoop to make it 72-57 St. John's with 4:16 left. Photo by Jason Schott.

St. John’s went on to put up an astonishing 57 points in the second half. They shot 71.9 percent from the field, making 23 out of 32 shot attempts.

While they put on that offensive display, their usually stout defense held Creighton to 46.7 %, or 14-30, and 15.4 %, or 2-13, on three-pointers, resulting in the 57-38 margin in the second half.

RJ Luis Jr. was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after he put up 29 points, on 11-18 from the field, including 3-3 on three-pointers, and 10 rebounds to give him a double-double, along with an assist and a steal. 

Luis Jr. is the third player in the last four seasons to win both the Big East Player of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player. The other two were Tyler Kolek of Marquette in 2023 and Collin Gillespie of Villanova in 2022.

RJ Luis Jr. cutting down the nets. Photos by Jason Schott.

Luis Jr.'s 29 points in the championship. game are the most since Villanova's Jalen Brunson, who had 31 in 2018. The record is the 32 points scored by John Garris of Boston College in the 1983 final against St. John's.

Zuby Ejiofor followed up his 33-point effort in the Semifinal win over Marquette with 20 points (8-15 FG, 1-4 threes), with three rebounds and three assists.

Zuby Ejiofor cutting down the nets. Photo by Jason Schott.

Kadary Richmond had a double-double with 12 points (6-10 FG) and 12 rebounds, with four assists and two steals.

Ejiofor and Richmond were named to the Big East All-Tournament Team.

This was St. John’s 30th win of the season, including an overall record of 30-4. It is just the third time they have hit the 30-win plateau in a season, with the first two instances the 31 wins they won in the 1984-85 and 85-86 seasons.

St. John's is the first team to overcome a halftime deficit in the championship game since Louisville in 2013, a team also coached by Rick Pitino. They are the first to overcome halftime deficits in both the semifinals and final since Louisville in 2009.

St. John's heads back to their bench after they went up 47-44 and started taking over the game. Photo by Jason Schott.

Kadary Richmond dribbles out the clock, while Rick Pitino and Creighton Coach Greg McDermott exchange congratulations. Photo by Jason Schott.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: “We had three phases we set out, and phase one was to win the regular Big East Championship. Phase two gets very difficult because you can't embrace what you are accomplishing. You just have to keep getting better. We accomplished that, and phase three was to make the tournament and go as far as we could possibly go. These two young men make it possible. Kadary [Richmond] is about as much fun to coach as any coach could have because he takes coaching really well, and he owns up to every mistake he makes. In the first half, we were just really intimidated by Kalkbrenner and we were pulling up and missing at midrange. What we talked about at halftime was to take it to the rim, use the rim as a shield. He can't cut through steel. Then take the three when it's there. Don't worry about the midrange game. Both of these guys took it to the rim. They used the rim as jail, what we call jail, and even when we missed two free throws, RJ [Luis Jr.] got the rebound. So, both of these guys have had an incredible season. I've said it all along with RJ that he's going to be even a better pro, and he's a hell of a college player. Kadary is going to have a long career because somebody is going to invest in Kadary and get a 6'6" guard who is going to play a long, long time in the NBA. I'm positive of that. So, I'm proud of both of them. Great win for the city. Great win for our university. You hear it all along that it's New York's team, and it truly is. As a New Yorker myself, I'm very, very proud that St. John's has gotten to this level. So we're all excited. We're all thrilled. These guys deserve all the credit because they shot 72 percent in the second half, 66.7 percent from three, and they were just brilliant.”

 

On if he expected this level of play from Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr.: “I think that neither guy was heavily recruited. Neither guy had great seasons where they were, but after working both of them out, I thought they both had great potential as basketball players and could get a lot better. Did I expect them to reach these heights? I didn't really think about it, but I have great gratitude that they did because we won a regular season and a BIG EAST Championship because of their play. They have been unstoppable.”

 

On winning this championship for Lou Carnesecca: “He crosses my mind after the game. I'm thinking he would be so proud of this team. You know, I say it all along. St. John's is Lou Carnesecca, Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, and all the greats from Joe DePre and Johnny Warren back in the day. That's St. John's. I'm just a caretaker of what all those guys built and I'm a proud caretaker of that. After the game, you obviously think of Lou and how proud he would have been.”

The message that closed out the night. Photo by Jason Schott.

 

On his mindset after the Big East Tournament: “I don't send any messages to anyone. Humility is a big part of my life right now. It wasn't always that way. I don't believe in redemption. I believe in humility. I don't believe in things that -- I believe in living what I call the precious present, a gift that we all get. We just lost a super star in Louisville, Junior Bridgeman, who was a young man who didn't smoke, didn't drink, carried his life in God's name in a big way. So, I take life as one day at a time. I take it one game at a time. I don't consider ourselves that people should beware of us. I've lost in the first round. I've been to seven Final Fours. So, we'll take it one game at a time, one possession at a time.” “I don't send any messages to anyone. Humility is a big part of my life right now. It wasn't always that way. I don't believe in redemption. I believe in humility. I don't believe in things that -- I believe in living what I call the precious present, a gift that we all get. We just lost a super star in Louisville, Junior Bridgeman, who was a young man who didn't smoke, didn't drink, carried his life in God's name in a big way. So, I take life as one day at a time. I take it one game at a time. I don't consider ourselves that people should beware of us. I've lost in the first round. I've been to seven Final Fours. So, we'll take it one game at a time, one possession at a time.”

 

On the physicality of the NCAA Tournament compared to the Big East:

“It is physical, but you have to adjust come tournament time. You have to adjust, move your feet more, but that's been said in 1987 when I was a coach, they said that about the BIG EAST.”

 

On the perception that the team was built through NIL: “Well, first of all, I think there's a lot of misrepresentations about NIL. NIL didn't get us this team because Zuby and RJ are very low-paid players. That's nonsense about the NIL. You don't know what you are getting. Somebody asked me about Zuby and RJ. You don't know what you are getting. Zuby didn't even play at Kansas. RJ was a good freshman, solid, but you don't know what you are getting. So here's two stars, very underpaid. So you build a team by making sure you understand the whole puzzle of what goes into it, and people just mischaracterize the NIL and why St. John's has been built. St. John's didn't get built by the NIL. St. John's got built with character of the players, and certainly we are excited to have these young men.”

 

On winning for New York: “I am, as a New Yorker, about as proud as any person could be because, you know, when I hear St. John's is New York's team and we're New York strong and we represent New York, that makes me feel awesome inside. So for New York, for St. John's, to see that crowd tonight, it's an extra special feeling for me. Now, I was elated with Louisville when we came in here and won three times I believe, elated for the players. There's an extra special feeling being a New Yorker who grew up on 26th Streetand grew up in Queens and then Long Island. For me, it's just extra, extra special because I share this with every fan that takes great pride in what was accomplished this year. The fans are very much part of our team. Tonight when we celebrate, I will toast the fans.”