Resurgent St. John’s pulls off 15 point comeback to punch ticket to Big East Championship

College basketball in New York City has been a complicated issue for decades. The city that lives and breathes the sport, but one school hasn’t truly captured the attention of the Five Boroughs in a long time.

NYU once made a Final Four in 1945. CCNY (that’s City College of New York) followed them two years later, then won the national title in 1950. But a series of point shaving scandals decimated both schools (even as NYU made the 1961 Final Four) to the point where they no longer compete at the D-I level.

There’s Fordham in The Bronx, which plays in one of the oldest gyms in the United States, but they’ve never gone further than the Sweet 16. Long Island University in Brooklyn had success before the Second World War, but have been an afterthought since. Spare some rare tournament appearances, Wagner on Staten Island has never really made waves.

Then there’s St. John’s: the Catholic school in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Queens. The Red Storm have gone through ebbs and flows across their years. A Final Four in 1952 was followed by decades of mediocrity. They produced a Final Four team again in 1985 with legends like Walter Berry and Chris Mullin, but couldn’t stay dominant for long. Even a team considered possibly their greatest ever in 1999 was knocked off in the Elite Eight and they haven’t gone that far since.

But this year? There’s something special brewing off Union Turnpike. Even in a year defined by the loss of Lou Carnesecca, their legendary coach who passed just days before turning 100, the Red Storm have cemented themselves as one of the best in the country. Led by an all-time great in Rick Pitino, this St. John’s team may have what it takes to finally get back to the promised land.

However, there’s the issue of defending their home turf in the Big East Tournament. In Friday’s semifinal against Marquette, the Johnnies dug themselves out of an early hole to secure a spot in the conference title game on Saturday night with a 79-63 win.

Rick Pitino and his St. John’s Red Storm secured a spot in the Big East Championship game

Zuby Ejiofor (24) dropped a shocking 33 points in a victory over Marquette

Who better to lead this team than a New Yorker? By the time he was announced as the Johnnies’ head coach in 2023, Rick Pitino had cemented himself as a coaching legend.

His resume speaks for itself. In his first major gig, he took Providence to the Final Four in what would be his final season. A job with the New York Knicks followed, but was unfruitful. Then came the vaunted Kentucky gig, where he won the 1996 national championship.

Pitino left that job for an ill-fated tenure with the Boston Celtics, but returned to the college game with Louisville. He led the Cardinals to three Final Fours and the 2013 national title. That title and a Final Four appearance in 2012 were stripped in a recruiting scandal that came at the same time as a sex scandal involving the coach.

He spent three years in Greece with the basketball team at Panathinaikos before returning stateside to helm mid-major Iona. Now, he’s with the Red Storm. Last season, the Johnnies were robbed of an NCAA Tournament bid that they now will cake-walk into.

It’s a team built on defense, one of the most efficient units in the country. The Red Storm haven’t allowed more than 80 points since a game against Baylor back in November. Their total combined margin of defeat across four losses? Just seven points.

Sure, there are problems: offensively, they’re not good at 3-point shooting and are inefficient at the free-throw line. But their physicality when defending keeps them in the game and has got them to where they are now: a top-10 ranking for the first time in over two-and-a-half decades.

They have plenty of accolades. Pitino won conference Coach of the Year and was matched in honors by Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. and Most Improved Player in big man Zuby Ejiofor. 

Pitino arrived in Queens last year and has already built a national powerhouse team

Pitino won Coach of the Year. His star forward, RJ Luis Jr, won Big East Player of the Year

Marquette guard Kam Jones (1) drives against Luis (12) in the first half of the game

After swatting aside Butler in their opener, St. John’s faced a Marquette team they played in their final regular season contest. In Milwaukee, the Johnnies forced overtime and an Ejiofor put-back at the buzzer sealed the win.

If the Golden Eagles were to have any success tonight, it’d come from star Kam Jones. The first-team all-conference guard hadn’t had a single game all season below double-digits and put up 32 in that loss just days ago.

Jones and Marquette started hot – building a 24-9 lead that stunned the red-clad Johnnies faithful. A windmill layup from the Golden Eagles’ No. 1 proved his highlight worthiness.

But by the time the half arrived, the Red Storm had managed to close the gap to a two point deficit.

Coming out of the break, things remained within one basket until about the 15:21 mark. A shot from the Red Storm’s Simeon Wilcher led to a miss on the other end, then a basket from the Johnnies’ Aaron Scott. That rolling ball led to an eventual ten-point lead.

Halfway through the final frame, Marquette began to claw back a bit as stars were benched due to foul trouble. With less than ten minutes remaining, Jones had three fouls and his backcourt compatriot Chase Ross had four. Opposite them, Luis was sat after picking up his third – allowing Marquette to cut the deficit to four at the 9:50 mark.

Momentum began swinging back to St. John’s by the under-eight timeout. A monster and-one dunk from Ejiofor led to the big man beating his chest as the specks of red throughout the building jumped out of their seats. He sank his and-one shot, then two more free throws on the next possession for the lead to jump back to ten.

Marquette head coach Shaka Smart barks out orders to his team in the Big East semifinals

Luis had a bit of an off night, shooting 4-of-18 from the field, but picking up double-digits

It was Ejiofor’s heroics that saved the Red Storm and secured a spot in the championship game

The sequence that essentially iced the game centered around Ejiofor. He assisted a massive dunk to Luis, then raced up court to grab a dunk of his own. A missed triple from Marquette’s David Joplin was hauled in, and once again the ball made its way to the big man for an emphatic slam that forced Marquette coach Shaka Smart to call timeout with the game at 70-56.

Marquette never had a chance to recover. Shots missed, the Johnnies’ defense held out, and the Red Storm sealed their return to the title game.