St. John’s continues to surge to heights not seen in decades.
Fresh off of Sunday’s commanding victory over UConn, the red-hot Red Storm came in at No. 7 in this week’s AP Poll.
It’s the school’s highest ranking since Dec. 2, 1991, when St. John’s was also No. 7. It’s three spots higher than last week, when St. John’s was No. 10.
Before this month, St. John’s had gone nearly 25 years without cracking the top 10. But Monday marked the third week in a row that St. John’s ranked No. 10 or better.
The latest recognition followed a week in which St. John’s pulverized DePaul, 82-58, on the road, then dominated UConn, 89-75, at Madison Square Garden.
St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino described Sunday’s win over the two-time defending NCAA champion Huskies as his team’s “best game of the season.”
The Johnnies are now 24-4, including 15-2 in Big East play, and boast a 2.5-game lead over Creighton (12-4) in the conference with three games to play.
“We want this Big East crown badly, not only for the players, but for the fans who came back like I never expected,” Pitino said Sunday. “We’re very excited about being in the hunt.”
Now in its second season under Pitino, St. John’s can clinch a share of the Big East regular-season title with a win Wednesday at Butler (6-10 in conference play).
A win over Butler coupled with a Creighton loss to last-place DePaul (2-15) that same night would lock up the outright Big East championship for St. John’s.
St. John’s has not won an outright Big East title since 1984-85 — a season that culminated in a trip to the Final Four under Lou Carnesecca.
The last time St. John’s earned even a share of the conference’s regular-season crown was 1991-92.
St. John’s leads the Big East in points (78.7) and rebounds (41.0) per game while limiting opponents to a conference-best 65.7 points per game.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for a program closing in on its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019.
“They’ve got a championship-level defense,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said after St. John’s held his Huskies to 39% shooting. “I think they have championship-level offensive rebounding.”
In this week’s poll, St. John’s jumped Iowa State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. Auburn was No. 1 for the seventh week in a row, while Duke climbed one spot to No. 2 after a week that included Saturday’s 110-67 win over Illinois at the Garden.
Earlier Monday, St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond was named Big East Player of the Week after averaging 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists against DePaul and UConn. Following Sunday’s win, Pitino said Richmond is playing through injuries including a pair of groin pulls.
St. John’s has won 13 of its last 14 games and is 17-0 at home, including 8-0 at the Garden, where a capacity crowd of 19,812 witnessed Sunday’s victory. The final home game of the season is scheduled for Saturday afternoon against Seton Hall at the Garden.
“I’m really happy for the guys on the team,” Pitino said Sunday. “I told them before the game, ‘Guys, do you understand you’re playing in sold-out Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena?’
“I said, ‘A lot of you guys aren’t from New York, but you’re going to have every seat filled. The whole town loves the way you play, so you deserve all the credit in the world, because you’re making it happen.’”
