Seton Hall’s great stretch, Bryce Hopkins’ injury among Big East Basketball storylines

2. St. John’s is back folks

Coach Rick Pitino has made his mark on the Big East early in conference play, while they have the same record as Villanova at 3-1, they have won much more convincingly, and their loss is a close one to UConn. Joel Soriano has been outstanding in leading this team, and the roster is starting to gel and figure it out here early in the New Year. He has led the team in scoring in all but four games this season, and the quality of play is now leading to wins in conference play. 

Their wins have looked really good, and their victories over Villanova and Butler make it hard to doubt that this team is going to be a force in this conference. While they still have to show it against Marquette, Creighton, and now Seton Hall, beating Xavier, Butler, and Villanova by double digits is a great look for them. While the early season struggles are still concerning, they can be forgotten about very quickly with some quality wins in Big East play. 

But for now, they are back, and ready to take on this Big East conference under Pitino, and with the rest of the top teams struggling this is a prime time to take advantage of losses at the top. They are in a position to put themselves in the top 25 alongside Seton Hall, so that January 16 matchup with the Pirates in Newark will be a huge game to watch once that comes along. But before that, they have a game against Providence at home, and a road matchup against Creighton, so we will see what the Johnnies do over these next few games.