The final time St. John’s received the Large East Event, RJ Luis Jr. wasn’t born but.
Neither had been Zuby Ejiofor or Kadary Richmond.
Rick Pitino was teaching the Boston Celtics — a job he held earlier than his stints with Louisville, Greece’s Panathinaikos, Iona and, lastly, St. John’s.
However on Saturday evening, that group additional restored the resurgent Pink Storm to glory.
Prime-seeded St. John’s defeated second-seeded Creighton, 82-66, within the Large East Event championship recreation at Madison Sq. Backyard, including one other achievement to one of many biggest seasons at school historical past.
No. 6 St. John’s (30-4) made 14 consecutive discipline targets throughout an unimaginable run to tug away within the second half, clinching its first Large East Event championship since 2000 and the fourth at school historical past.
Luis, the Large East Participant of the Yr, got here up large on the largest stage, scoring 29 factors — together with 27 within the second half — to set a championship recreation report.
He was named the convention match’s Most Excellent Participant after averaging 20.7 factors and eight.0 rebounds per recreation.
Ejiofor added 20 factors on 8-of-15 taking pictures, and Richmond completed with 12 factors and 12 rebounds.
And as soon as once more, they did it in comeback vogue.
St. John’s fell behind, 10-2, as rim-protecting Creighton middle Ryan Kalkbrenner, a four-time Large East Defensive Participant of the Yr, patrolled the paint.
The Johnnies repeatedly settled for — and missed — mid-range jumpers and 3-point makes an attempt throughout an unsightly first half during which they shot simply 11-of-33 from the sector.
Kalkbrenner’s presence proved significantly problematic early for Ejiofor, who, at 6-9, is 4 inches shorter than the 7-1 middle. Ejiofor, who scored 33 factors in Friday’s semifinal win over Marquette, went simply 3-of-8 for seven factors within the first half.
Luis had failed to choose up the slack to that time, managing solely two factors on 1-of-5 taking pictures within the first half. However the Johnnies’ hounding protection stored them within the recreation, they usually trailed solely 28-25 on the break.
After which St. John’s erupted.
Luis’ 3-pointer on the 14:26 mark of the second half knotted the rating, 38-38, to tie the sport for the primary time because it was scoreless.
Ejiofor transformed a three-point play two possessions later, marking the primary of the Pink Storm’s 14 consecutive makes.
Vince Iwuchukwu’s left-handed floater over Kalkbrenner on the subsequent possession gave St. John’s its first lead, 43-41, with 11:55 to go.
And Luis capped that run with out a miss by making a lay-up with 5:16 to go, placing the Pink Storm up, 70-55.
Lower than three minutes later, a sellout crowd decidedly within the Johnnies’ favor chanted “MVP” as Luis shot free throws. It was technically a neutral-site recreation, however with the win, St. John’s improved to 12-0 on the Backyard.
St. John’s superior to its first Large East Event title recreation in 25 years after cruising to a 78-57 victory over ninth-seeded Butler in Thursday’s quarterfinal spherical after which rallying from a 15-point deficit in Friday’s 79-63 semifinal win over Marquette.
With Saturday’s win, Pitino additional delivered on the promise he made two years in the past at his introductory press convention on the Backyard, the place he vowed St. John’s was “going to be back.”
It was a daring assure, even for a Corridor of Fame coach with two nationwide championships and 7 Ultimate 4 appearances to his title.
However it took solely two years for Pitino to show St. John’s round.
The Johnnies went 27-4 within the common season, together with 18-2 in convention play, to say their first outright Large East regular-season convention championship since 1985. Saturday clinched their first 30-win season since 1985-86.
After the common season, Pitino prompt that profitable the Large East Event may propel the Pink Storm to a No. 2 seed within the NCAA Event.
On Sunday, St. John’s will discover out its seed and its opponent to start the Large Dance. Will probably be the Pink Storm’s first NCAA Event look since 2019.
After which St. John’s will then get to work on ending one other decades-long drought. It has not received an NCAA Event recreation since 2000.
Initially Printed: March 15, 2025 at 8:57 PM EDT
