NEW YORK, NY — There are not many environments in sports that can match up to the billing of a Friday night at Madison Square Garden for the Big East Conference Tournament Semifinal round.
The number-one seeded St. John’s Red Storm, ranked sixth in the country, punched its ticket to Friday’s box office attraction Thursday afternoon with a Quarterfinal Beatdown on the No. 9 seeded Butler Bulldogs, 78-57.
“Basically I told the guys that a five-plus performance is a Michael Jordan performance, and we were a four-star tonight, which was good enough to win, which you expect,” said St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino in the postgame. “We did a lot of good things tonight. We did a lot of things we need to get better at, but overall, it was a four-star performance, and we’ll take it.”
Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
In route to the Johnnies’ 28th victory of the season, 28-4 overall and also, the program’s second consecutive year of appearing in the Big East tourney semis, Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis Jr., each put on masterclasses of individual performances.
The Brooklyn native Richmond just missed out on a triple double, recording 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Miami’s very own, Luis Jr., recently named the 2024-2025 Big East Player of the Year, finished with 20 points, a game-high.
For Richmond, selected to the All Big East Second Team, the elite graduate guard, one who enjoys highly intense moments — winning the 2024 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with Seton Hall — seems to have turned the corner ever since the calendar flipped to March of 2025.
Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
In his last three games, dating back to March 1st, Richmond’s stat lines go as follows:
March 1st, W vs. Seton Hall: 9 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists
March 5th, W @ Marquette: 10 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists
March 13th, W vs. Butler: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists
“Just staying poised through it all,” said Richmond when asked on how his previous tournament experiences can and have helped him in this year’s ongoing stretch, known as ‘Champ Week’ and ‘March Madness.’
“The NIT is a big thing, but not as big as where we are now and what we’re trying to do. So just staying poised through it all because I’ve been through some tough stretches in March throughout my career. Just knowing what to do, and knowing when it’s time to win.”
His Red Storm teammate Luis Jr., a proud Dominican-Ecuadorian, reaching the 20-point plateau for the 12th time this season in Thursday’s Big East Quarterfinal win over Butler, consistently forced himself to the rim to stack up seven rebounds. He added on to his performance with one block and a steal.
Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
Just as much as Richmond, Luis Jr. has stepped it up in his last five games, averaging 21.4 points — respectively, 14 pts (vs. UConn), 24 pts (@ Butler), 21 pts (vs. Seton Hall), 28 pts (@ Marquette), and 20 pts on Thursday.
And similar to Richmond, the junior wing is looking to use last year’s experience of appearing in the Big East Tournament semifinal round to this year’s potential run…
Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
“We definitely want to take care of business this Friday,” Luis Jr. said as St. John’s will now face the number-five seeded Marquette Golden Eagles (23-9) in the Big East tourney semis Friday night at 6:30 PM ET on FOX.
“We fell short last year, so it’s really about honing in on the little details and just coming out together and playing hard as a team.”
The Slate for Big East Semifinal Friday at The Garden
No. 1 seeded St. John’s vs. No. 5 seeded Marquette at 6:30 PM ET on FOX
No. 2 seeded Creighton vs. No. 3 seeded UConn at 9:00 PM ET on FOX
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
