A week between games came at an ideal time for No. 6 St. John’s.
Injuries to Deivon Smith (neck/shoulder), RJ Luis Jr. (groin) and Kadary Richmond (double groin pull) caused all three to miss practices in recent weeks. Smith and Luis both missed at least one game, too.
Missed practices leads to rustiness in games, head coach Rick Pitino said Saturday after St. John’s clinched the outright Big East championship with a closer-than-expected 71-61 win over Seton Hall.
That’s why Pitino was looking forward to the seven days between that win and this Saturday’s regular-season finale at No. 20 Marquette.
“About 20-25% of the reason we win is that we are always one of the best-conditioned teams in the nation,” Pitino said.
“If you play slow-tempo and you miss a day or two, it’s not a big deal. But when you play like this, at optimum conditioning, and you miss two days, it’s a lot. That’s why Kadary Richmond is not playing real well right now. It’s conditioning-based. … This week is a blessing for us because we can get back in the condition we were in.”
Although St. John’s (26-4; 17-2 in conference play) already wrapped up its first outright Big East regular-season title since 1985, the red-hot Red Storm still have plenty to play for.
A win over Marquette (22-8; 13-6) would give St. John’s its fourth ranked win, its second ranked win on the road, and its fourth quadrant-one victory — factors that will be considered when the Selection Committee determines seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday’s game also marks the Johnnies’ final tuneup before next week’s Big East Tournament, which St. John’s seeks to win for the first time since 2000.
The Golden Eagles revolve around senior guard Kam Jones, who could be a first-round pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.
Jones is a career 37% shooter from 3-point range and has been productive this season in a new role as Marquette’s primary ball-handler, replacing Tyler Kolek, now of the Knicks.
Now in his fourth season at Marquette, the 6-5 Jones is averaging a career-high 18.4 points per game, which ranks third in the Big East, and 6.2 assists, which ranks second. He should provide a worthy test for a St. John’s defense that likes to press and excels with its perimeter length.
Saturday’s game features the Big East’s top two defenses. St. John’s holds opponents to a conference-best 65.7 points per game. Marquette is not far behind at 66.8 per game. Both teams force more than 15 turnovers per game.
“We need this week to get ready for a tough Marquette team,” Pitino said. “We’ll get back to the basics of being one of the best-conditioned teams in the nation.”
St. John’s won the first meeting, 70-64, at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 4, when Marquette was ranked No. 11. Jones had 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting in that game, while Richmond led St. John’s with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Richmond scored only nine points and went 4-of-12 from the field Saturday against a Seton Hall team that’s just 2-17 in Big East play. That off performance came six days after Pitino described the typically high-scoring guard as being “more injured than any player I’ve coached.”
As a whole, St. John’s was off against the Pirates, shooting just 43.4% from the field while committing 16 turnovers and missing 12 free throws.
“No matter how badly we played … it just felt great to get it done,” Luis said of winning the Big East’s regular-season crown. “Like [Pitino] said, we’re going to prepare for Marquette and just keep on going, keep on winning and playing together as a team.”
