Rick Pitino Leads St. John’s To First Massive East Event Championship Sport Since 2000 – Forbes

ByTim Casey

ByTim Casey
, Senior Contributor.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: Zuby Ejiofor #24 of the St. John's Crimson Storm reacts after scoring in … [+] the second half of a semifinal sport towards the Marquette Golden Eagles through the Massive East Males's Basketball Event at Madison Sq. Backyard on March 14, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Picture by Sarah Stier/Getty Pictures)
Round 9:30 on Friday night time, the final two St. John’s gamers to win the Massive East Participant of the 12 months met one another within the locker room at Madison Sq. Backyard. Walter Berry, who received the award in 1986, was in search of RJ Luis Jr., this yr’s recipient. It was exhausting to find out who was extra star struck.
“That is the man proper right here,” Luis mentioned.
“No, you the person,” Berry mentioned.
“No, that’s you,” Luis mentioned. “That’s you. Recognize you.”
“We’re gonna speak tomorrow, child,” Berry mentioned. “Alright? Good assembly you, man.”
“I recognize it,” Berry mentioned “Take care.”
That dialog following the Crimson Storm’s 79-63 victory over Marquette within the Massive East match semifinals continued a surreal season for a program steeped in custom however accustomed to heartbreak lately. St. John’s superior to the Massive East remaining for the primary time since 2000. On Saturday night time, the No. 1 seed Crimson Storm will face No. 2 seed Creighton, which defeated No. 3 seed Connecticut, 71-62, within the different semifinal late Friday night time.
At the beginning, it didn’t seem like it was St. John’s night time. Simply over seven minutes into the sport, Marquette led, 24-9, silencing the pro-Crimson Storm crowd. However the Crimson Storm went on a 9-0 run over the subsequent 90 seconds and stored coming, taking the lead for good early within the second half. It was the seventh time this season St. John’s overcame a double-digit deficit.
“There’s no panic on this inventory market,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino mentioned. “These guys don’t panic.”
Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s with 33 factors, setting a program report in a Massive East match sport. In the future after Ejiofor scored simply 4 factors within the quarterfinals towards Butler, he spearheaded the Crimson Storm’s second half rally, scoring 23 factors on 7-of-8 discipline objectives and 9-of-9 free throws within the remaining 20 minutes.
Ejiofor additionally had 9 rebounds and have become the primary Crimson Storm participant since Berry in 1986 to attain at the very least 30 factors and 9 rebounds in a sport.
“I’m teaching 50 years, and there are only a few Zubys that come alongside that simply take into consideration the group,” Pitino mentioned. “Whether or not he scores 33 or 3, it’s all concerning the group.”
Afterward, Pitino referred to his group’s efficiency as a 5 or 5-minus on a 5-point scale, up from a 4 in Thursday’s win over Butler. He talked about the Crimson Storm “virtually” had an ideal 5 rating and referred to Michael Jordan because the gold customary with a 5-plus.
“We had been good in any respect phases of the sport,” Pitino mentioned.
Maybe Pitino was being a bit hyperbolic, because the Crimson Storm solely made 41.8% of their discipline objectives, together with 5-of-18 3-pointers (27.8%). However St. John’s has been excelling all season regardless of their mediocre taking pictures statistics. And that’s because of its relentless protection.
The Crimson Storm held Marquette to 39% taking pictures and 20.7% on 3’s, together with 1 of 12 within the second half. In addition they compelled the Golden Eagles to only 6 assists and compelled 18 turnovers.
St. John’s ranks first in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive effectivity metric.
“They’ve had an superior season,” UConn coach Dan Hurley mentioned. “They remind me numerous Houston, simply the rebounding, the protection, the physicality.”
St. John’s received its eighth consecutive sport and 18 of its previous 19. The Crimson Storm have already received their first Massive East common season title, and they are going to be in search of their first convention match championship in 25 years towards a proficient Creighton group. The groups break up their two common season video games, with Creighton successful, 57-56, on New 12 months’s Eve and St. John’s successful, 79-73, on Feb. 16 at Madison Sq. Backyard.
The Crimson Storm are 11-0 at MSG this season and have captivated the town, drawing sell-out crowds. There will probably be one other pro-St. John’s crowd on Saturday.
“Me and your entire group, we actually simply fed off the power of the group as we speak, particularly once they had been chanting my title on the finish of the sport,” Ejiofor mentioned. “I couldn’t management myself. I needed to maintain it in just a little bit. However we’re staying level-headed as a result of we all know that we’ve nonetheless bought a purpose to perform.”

source