For the first time in 33 years, the St. John’s Men’s Basketball team has secured a share of the regular season Big East title after narrowly defeating the Butler Bulldogs 76-70 on Feb. 26.
In 1992, Coach Lou Carnesecca and future NBA journeyman Malik Sealy earned their spot in basketball immortality by bringing Queens a Big East title. Since then, St. John’s has had to wait 32 years, 10 months and 3 days to reach Big East royalty again.
But sharing a title with Creighton isn’t enough for Rick Pitino.
“I just told the guys, we didn’t come here to share anything,” Pitino said postgame. “We came to win this thing — we said it weeks ago and it’s in our hands right now.”
Even that portion of the Big East honors could have been in jeopardy against Butler as the 13-15 Bulldogs hung with the Johnnies all throughout this game.
While Butler’s leading scorer Jahmyl Telfort was held to just 13 points, sophomore forward Boden Kapke scored 12 points in only 18 minutes of play, about nine points above his average of 3.2. But a familiar face was a key factor for the Bulldogs.
In his revenge game, former Johnnie Kolby King scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and hit a clutch three-pointer to cut the Red Storm lead to 66-64 with under three minutes left.
“Certainly, we didn’t play our best game,” Pitino said. “But late in the game, we made all the right plays to win the game, and all that counts is winning the game.
It’s easy to close out a game and make those correct plays when RJ Luis Jr. explodes for 24 points. Luis’ ninth 20+ point effort of the season is just another addition to his substantial bid for Big East Player of the Year, as are his contributions.
Down the stretch, Luis sank three crucial free-throws that gave the Johnnies a two-possession lead. St. John’s carried this two possession lead to the final buzzer.
“This group is really special. It’s just really a blessing for me to be able to play at this level,” Luis said after the game when asked about the impact this special season has had on him. “Just to know that come Saturday, if we take care of business… It feels great to be a part of that.”
With the magic number to clinch the Big East regular season title at one, St. John’s fate lies in their own hands. Standing in the Johnnies’ way of clinching sole ownership of the Big East title is the Seton Hall Pirates, Kadary Richmond’s former team.
The Red Storm will have a chance to make history in the Garden on Saturday against the Pirates.
To access the full box score from the Johnnies win, click here.
