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St. John’s made its fans wait 40 years for another outright Big East regular-season championship, and it made them sweat for the clincher.
What, you thought it was going to be easy?
It certainly wasn’t, even against seven-win Seton Hall. Very little has come easy for this team, but as has been the case throughout this magical season, the Johnnies found a way to prevail.
The seventh-ranked Red Storm overcame off shooting nights from star guards Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith and the absence of Aaron Scott to win the league crown with a hard-fought 71-61 victory over the Pirates at a sold-out Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis, the two key returnees from coach Rick Pitino’s first season, led the way, combining for 38 points and six rebounds, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo added eight points and five rebounds off the bench in place of Scott.
St. John’s dominated the final 10:01, outscoring Seton Hall, 22-12, from that point on. The Pirates managed just five points over the last 5:22.
It was a second straight sluggish performance. St. John’s committed 14 turnovers, three more than its season average entering the game, and missed 12 free throws.
Richmond and Smith were a combined 6 of 21 from the field.
St. John’s started the game asleep. It missed its first eight shots and committed a turnover in the first 4:08. Seton Hall took advantage, racing out to a 10-2 lead.
St. John’s responded by scoring 12 of the game’s next 14 points. But that stretch was an aberration over the opening 20 minutes.
The Johnnies entered the game averaging 11.1 turnovers and committed seven in the first half.
They shot just 37.5 percent from the field and were outscored in the paint by two.
Luis was a bright spot, scoring a game-high 14 points, and Ejiofor added eight rebounds.
But the first half was a slog, Seton Hall dictating tempo and St. John’s struggling for quality looks.
Scott started, but quickly came out after 2:50 and didn’t return. He was questionable with a hamstring injury.
St. John’s remained sluggish out of the break, committing turnovers on consecutive possessions.
It couldn’t keep Dylan Addae-Wusu out of the paint and Seton Hall was even at 49 after an Isaiah Coleman jumper with 10:01 left.
The Garden was comatose. A few possessions later, Ruben Prey’s 3-pointer woke the large crowd up. Then, Smith scored inside to push the lead to five and force a Seton Hall timeout.
It was finally getting loud, and would soon get louder.
