The Big East has been a strong conference for the past couple of years, regardless of realignment's impact on it. But one thing that has been consistent in the conference is St. John’s failing to be at the top. Their last regular-season title in the Big East was all the way back in 1992 when they were peers with programs such as Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
The new millennium hasn’t gone overly well for the Red Storm, with just four NCAA Tournament appearances, none since 2019, the last year of the Chris Mullin era. But former national-champion head coach (Louisville) Rick Pitino has turned the program around in a big way, starting the season off 21-3.
At this point, St. John’s is a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. But more history is on the table, especially after what happened this past week, In a four-team race at the top of the Big East standings, the Red Storm took on two of those teams with a chance to be the clear team to beat.
On Tuesday, St. John’s got the 70-64 home win over Marquette, led by 18 points, 11 rebounds, and eight rebounds from Kadary Richmond, one of three players with double-doubles for the team. But the tougher game was on Friday, as they went on the road to take on last year’s Big East champion, UConn.
After a slow start, the Red Storm went on a big run late to pull off the 68-62 victory, thanks to 21 points from RJ Luis. Those two wins over ranked opponents have St. John’s in sole possession of first place in the Big East standings at 11-1, 1.5 games ahead of Creighton.
If the Bluejays lose to Marquette on Saturday, the Red Storm will be two games clear with seven games left in the regular season. They still have rematches with both Marquette and UConn and have to avoid any upset defeats along the way, but this is shaping up to be the best league campaign for the program in decades.