St. John's Clinches Second Straight Big East Crown

 

@StJohnsBball.

St. John's went into Newark on Friday night and beat Seton Hall, 72-65, to clinch their second straight Big East Regular Season Championship.

This is the first time St. John's has gone back-to-back since the 1984-85 and '85-86 seasons.

This was St. John's 36th win in Big East play, extending their record for most conference wins in a two-year span.

St. John's finishes the regular season with a record of 18-2 in Big East play and a 25-6 overall record. The 18 conference wins match the league record set by last year's St. John's team, and Connecticut in 2023-24.

The Red Storm have clinched the top seed in next week's Big East Tournament.

At the moment, St. John's has clinched a share of the regular season title, as Connecticut (17-2 Big East, 27-3 overall) could tie the Red Storm if they win at Marquette on Saturday afternoon.

St. John's, after a slow start to the season due to a very tough non-conference schedule to open the season and then a 2-1 start in Big East play, reeled off 13 straight wins to put them in position to win this title.

Then, after a tough loss to Connecticut, the Red Storm won the final three games, a romp over Villanova last Saturday night, gutted one out against Georgetown on Tuesday, and then this battle against Seton Hall.

The win over Georgetown was a historic win for St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino, as it was his 75th win out of 99 games with the Red Storm. 

Pitino became the third Big East head coach to notch 75 wins in under 100 games, along with two other very familiar names, Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh, from 2003-06, and John Thompson II of Georgetown, 1979-82.

Just as their first meeting was with Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden on January 20, The Hall gave them a battle, as St. John's held a narrow 30-27 edge at halftime.

St. John's opened up a seven-point lead early in the second half, but the Pirates pulled back to within a point, at 50-49, on an AJ Staton-McCray layup with 9:28 remaining.

The Red Storm then reeled off five straight points, and after an Elijah Fisher jumper at 6:49 pulled Seton Hall back to 55-51, St. John's reeled off seven straight points, and an extended 11-2 run, capped by an Oziyah Sellers three-pointer at 4:07 that made it 62-51.

Seton Hall had one last run in them, as they pulled within three, at 66-63, on a Staton-McCray three-pointer with 47 seconds left.

Zuby Ejiofor then got to the line with 27 seconds left, and he made two free throws to put St. John's up five, and then, after a Josh Rivera layup, Dillon Mitchell put them back up five, at 70-65, with 14 seconds left, to seal the win.

St. John's was led by Zuby, who had 21 points on 8-122 shooting, with three blocks, two rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Sellers and Bryce Hopkins had 11 points apiece, with all of Sellers' shot attempts coming from three-point range, going 3-8, along with five rebounds and a steal. Hopkins had seven rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block.

Seton Hall finishes the regular season with a record of 21-11, and 10-10 in Big East play. Their season was never the same since they coughed up a 15-point lead with 16:03 remaining in the January 20 game at Madison Square Garden, which St. John's won, 65-60.