It has been 40 years, 480 months or 14,600 days since the St. John’s Red Storm has won the title of Big East regular season champions. But with a 71-61 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates on March 1, the Johnnies have reclaimed the crown of the Big East.

Not since the time of Lou Carnesecca and Chris Mullin in 1985 has St. John’s been the alpha dog within college basketball’s most competitive conference. Winning the Big East title following Carnesecca’s passing is just another way to honor his legacy and impact on St. John’s basketball. 

“Lou means a lot to a lot of people, he was the gentleman of all gentlemen, a fierce competitor and a great basketball coach,” Head Coach Rick Pitino said postgame. “We’re proud of the fact that in the year that he passed we could honor him with this championship.”

Winning the title against the 7-22 Pirates proved to be far more difficult than advertised. The pair of Isaiah Coleman (15 pts., 6 reb.) and Dylan Addae-Wusu (18 pts., 7 ast.) kept Seton Hall in contention until the Johnnies pulled away in the final five minutes.

The Red Storm faced major injury concerns with Aaron Scott only recording three minutes of playing time. Besides Scott, two other starters dealt with injury management throughout the matchup.

Despite the conditioning anxiety surrounding Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis Jr., both stars each played over 35 minutes and were irreplaceable in capturing the victory. Richmond recorded a near triple-double with nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists while the offense ran through Luis as the leading scorer with 21 points.

After a dominant showing in a title-clinching game, Luis has another impressive performance to add to his resume for Big East Player of the Year. 

“Winning the award would be a blessing but I can’t win it without my team,” Luis humbly said when asked about potentially winning the award. “It takes more than one person and basketball is a team sport, it takes the whole roster.”

As for the man in the middle, Zuby Ejiofor continued to be the consistent presence in the post for the Red Storm. His 17 points, 10 rebounds and post protection served as the team’s backbone.

“The Big East is a monster of a league,” Ejiofor said concerning the toughness of the conference’s playstyle. “It’s countless hours of practice, preparation and film sessions and you have to be willing to do it all.”

Locking down the Big East, breaking into the AP’s top 10 and potentially earning a top three seed in the NCAA Tournament may be Pitino’s most impressive reclamation project yet but there is still work to be done. 

The tale of Pitino’s second year continues into the postseason with the Big East Tournament beginning on March 12, where the top seeded Johnnies wish to claim ultimate supremacy over the conference.

The last stop in the regular season for the Red Storm will be a rematch against No. 21 Marquette in Milwaukee on March 8. The Golden Eagles seek revenge for their Feb. 4 loss and St. John’s will look to sweep the season series for the first time in seven years.