NEW YORK, NY — For the first time in 33 years, St. John’s men’s basketball owns a share of the Big East Conference regular season title, winning a tough and ugly road affair at Butler Wednesday night, 76-70.
As the No. 7 ranked Red Storm improved to a 25-4 overall record, and 16-2 in Big East play, a new record for most victories in league play in program history — St. John’s can now clinch the regular season conference championship outright this coming Saturday afternoon with a win over Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden, which would mark the first outright Big East regular season title for the Johnnies since 1984-1985.
40 years in the making…
Within two years as the head coach at St. John’s, Rick Pitino and the Red Storm are nationally relevant, ranked No. 7 as of this week and are one win away from winning the 2024-2025 Big East regular season title outright – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
St. John’s All-Time Big East Regular Season Titles
1979-1980: Shared
1982-1983: Shared
1984-1985: Outright (Reached Final Four)
1985-1986: Shared
1991-1992: Shared
2024-2025: Shared (One more win OR Creighton loss clinches outright BE regular season title)
“We didn’t come here to share anything,” said Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino in Wednesday’s postgame. “We have our goals. We came to win this thing, we said it weeks ago, and it’s in our hands right now.”
Rick Pitino is the first head coach to lead St. John’s to a shared Big East regular season title since the late legend Lou Carnesecca – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
The Pitino Effect: Pitino, 72, becoming the Red Storm head coach in March of 2023, already getting St. John’s back on the map, is now the first coach in Division I history to win a regular season conference championship with five separate programs — Boston University, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona, and St. John’s — stat provided by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
He will more than likely win the 2024-2025 Big East Coach of the Year, a well-deserved honor, and is shaping up currently as a leading candidate for the National Coach of the Year award.
Make Way For RJ
St. John’s junior combo-guard RJ Luis Jr., a legitimate contender for Big East Player of the Year, dropped a game-high of 24 points in Wednesday night’s victory at the Hinkle Fieldhouse — the Dominican-Ecuadorian’s ninth game of the 2024-2025 season, finishing with 20 or more points, and 15th for his three-year collegiate career (one season at the University of Massachusetts and two at St John’s.)
RJ Luis Jr. completed an alley oop dunk in St. John’s win @ Butler on Wednesday night (WATCH)- Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
His 24 points in 37 minutes of action, along with four rebounds, two steals, and one assist, came off of 9-16 shooting from the field (56%), 3-6 (50%) from behind the arc and 3-4 (75%) from the charity stripe.
And like Pitino, Luis Jr. and his Red Storm teammates are not interested in sharing championships…
“We haven’t won anything yet,” he said. “It feels good to have part of it clinched, but like Coach Pitino said, ‘I don’t want to share it and the team doesn’t want to share it.’ We have put a lot of work in this season.”
St. John’s is one win away from taking home the outright Big East regular season crown – Image Credit: St. John’s Men’s Basketball
Senior Day and A White Out at The World’s Most Famous Arena
Looking to secure an outright Big East regular season championship, as well as a perfect 18-0 record in games played at MSG and Carnesecca Arena, the Red Storm will host the Pirates this Saturday afternoon, March 1, with tip scheduled for 2:15 PM ET on CBS.
Though they are in high demand due to Senior Day, an announced White Out by St. John’s, along with the hype and excitement building across New York City, tickets are still available for Saturday’s game at St. John’s Men’s Basketball Ticket Information.
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Julio
February 27, 2025 at 8:10 am
Pitino kept his promise!