St. John’s wins very first Big East tourney considering that 2000
Mar 15, 2025, 09:05 PM ET
RJ Luis Jr. scored all however 2 of his 29 points after halftime and No. 6 St. John’s made 14 straight shots from the field in the second half to beat Creighton 82-66 on Saturday night for its first Big East competition title in 25 years.Zuby Ejiofor included 20 points and Kadary Richmond had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Red Storm (30-4), who reached 30 wins for the third time in program history in front of a roaring home town crowd at sold-out Madison Square Garden.They made the conference’s automatic quote to the NCAA tournament for their very first journey considering that 2019, making 72-year-old Hall of Famer Rick Pitino the first coach to take six schools to the Big Dance. The others were Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.
“For all the St. John’s fans, this is for you!” Pitino declared during a postgame interview on the court, pausing to eliminate falling confetti from his lips. “St. John’s is New York’s team!”
Pitino, in his 2nd season at St. John’s, also ended up being the first coach to win the Big East competition at 2 schools. He has won 3 times in his previous four seasons in the league, after assisting Louisville to champions in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
“They have actually had an exceptional year. Controlled our league and practically saved their finest for this conference tournament,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said of the Red Storm. “They just use into you over time. … We lost to a truly excellent basketball team. I think they’re going to represent the Big East in a favorable method next week.”
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Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 15 for second-seeded Creighton (24-10), which was up to 0-5 in Big East championship games given that signing up with the conference for the 2013-14 season.It was the 4th Big East competition title for the Johnnies, who made the national championship for the very first time since winning the 2000 prize under Mike Jarvis. The previous two came in the 1980s under Hall of Popularity coach Lou Carnesecca, who passed away Nov. 30 about 5 weeks shy of his 100th birthday. “We had three stages we set out,”Pitino stated after the win
, more than likely describing winning the Big East regular-season title, the conference’s tournament crown and, eventually, the championship game. The Red Storm have actually protected the very first 2 stages.”I’m so fired up. I couldn’t be more blessed for this chance,”Luis said.
“We’re going to keep going.”The Associated Press added to this report.