For the first time all season, No. 17 St. John’s is in the driver’s seat for a Big East championship.
The Red Storm enter Saturday afternoon’s home game against Creighton in sole possession of first place in the conference, having pulled ahead of No. 5 UConn by a half-game this week.
But with five games remaining on its regular season schedule, St. John’s knows the margin for error remains razor thin.
“We still have five tough games, and we have to take it one game at a time, one day at a time in practice,” senior forward Bryce Hopkins said. “We can’t overlook any opponent because it’s easy to let a game slip.”
St. John’s (21-5; 14-1 in conference play) has won 12 games in a row, most recently eking out a 76-70 victory against Marquette on the road Wednesday.
That win came hours after UConn (24-3; 14-2 in conference play) was upset at home by unranked Creighton.
Creighton (14-13; 8-8 in conference play) now looks to play spoiler again on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, kicking off a tough stretch for St. John’s.
On Wednesday, St. John’s is set to face UConn in Hartford in a potential conference-deciding bout.
The Johnnies then finish the season with home games against red-hot Villanova (21-5 and winners of six straight) and Georgetown; and a road game against slumping-but-still-dangerous Seton Hall.
“We just have to stay locked into every opponent,” Hopkins said.
St. John’s being in this position seemed unlikely on Jan. 3, when it fell to 9-5 with a home loss to lowly Providence. At that point, St. John’s was 0-3 against ranked opponents and had fallen out of the AP Top 25.
But St. John’s has not lost since, now living up to the sky-high expectations of a team that won the Big East last year, assembled the country’s most touted transfer-portal class and began this season ranked No. 5.
The Red Storm’s prolonged surge included a 90-73 win at Creighton on Jan. 10 and a statement 81-72 victory over UConn at the Garden on Feb. 6.
“It’s really difficult,” head coach Rick Pitino said of his roster building chemistry after returning only one starter, Zuby Ejiofor, from last year’s team.
“Bryce never knew Oziyah [Sellers]. Bryce never knew Zuby. Oziyah never knew [Sadiku Ibine Ayo]. They didn’t know each other, so you can’t build a brotherhood overnight. You’ve got to go through some tough times. Adversity brings them close together, and those early games brought them close together.”
Helping to foster that bond was last weekend’s testy 79-69 win at Providence, where St. John’s rallied after Friars forward Duncan Powell’s flagrant foul on Hopkins led to a fervid fight and ejections for both teams.
St. John’s was similarly unfazed when Marquette fans chanted “Dun-can Pow-ell” every time Hopkins shot free throws Wednesday.
“I knew I was gonna hear it. I’m probably gonna hear it for the rest of the year,” Hopkins said. “I don’t really care about it. I’m just focused on my guys. We’re playing for something much bigger than any narratives that people are trying to build, and that’s that.”
St. John’s seeks to repeat as Big East regular season champions for the first time since 1984-85 and 1985-86, the latter of which was a shared title with Syracuse.
It also aims to become the first St. John’s team ever to win back-to-back Big East Tournaments.
The outlook could change again Saturday, as UConn is set to visit Villanova in its most difficult remaining road game. The Huskies have only four games left on their regular season slate.
But with just over three weeks to go until Selection Sunday, St. John’s controls its own destiny.
“I think we’re gonna do a great job,” Hopkins said. “We’re not gonna slack off.”
